- LCFC Women’s next assignment in the WSL comes away at Everton
- The Foxes are within two points of Saturday’s opponents in the table
- Sophie Barker previewed the 5:30pm kick-off with the national media
- City will approach every game the same until the end of the season, she says
Just two points separate Leicester from the Toffees, who sit one place higher in the standings ahead of facing off at Walton Hall Park in Saturday evening's 5:30pm kick-off.
Although defeated by Manchester United last weekend, following on from exiting the Vitality Women’s FA Cup at the fifth-round stage, Barker believes City have coped well with the adversity, taking heart from the performances and results picked up in recent months.
The midfielder spoke to the national media in Wednesday’s pre-match press conference at Belvoir Drive.
“It have been really positive,” the skipper said, referencing the mood in camp in the lead up to facing the Merseyside club. “We’ve had a few turbulent points, but we’ve rode them really well as a group.
“I think the gaffer has got us together and she has created a really positive environment and we’re thriving with that. The respect is there, the enthusiasm is there, you can see that, maybe not over the last couple of results, but prior to that, we’d actually been playing really well.
“The togetherness is really good and credit to her for doing that. There is maturity within the group now. They are really growing into their roles on and off the pitch. We have eased our way into the WSL a little bit and found our feet and hopefully, with that, more results come our way in the next few weeks.”
A resurgent few months under the stewardship of Lydia Bedford has pushed the Foxes eight points above the relegation zone during their first campaign in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League, opening up a significant gap with six games to play.
Leicester will not be resting on their laurels in the final weeks of the season, however, with the captain emphasising the need for further improvements.
“We’ve worked really hard to get ourselves off the bottom of the table,” Barker explained. “It’s taken the pressure off us a little bit, but the gaffer still puts it on us, and she makes sure that we know we need to win that next game.
“We’re not stopping there. If we can keep climbing, we will do. If we can push ourselves to mid-table, that shows strides of where we’ve come from.
“At this point in time, we are keeping each other at a level. We don’t want to drop from that now. That means, if we have to do that in training, we’ll do it. If we have to do that off the pitch in terms of team bonding, we will.
“If we continue to play the way we have been doing, that’s what has been getting our results over the last few weeks. Hopefully, if we can do that, we’ll continue to perform on the pitch.”
Several fixtures against sides at the top of the table are on the horizon, though the 31-year-old outlined that the squad are only concentrating on the next job in hand, utilising the same preparations at Belvoir Drive to be ready for another tough away test.
“Everton this week is really important for us,” the former Sheffield United captain added. “We’re taking every game exactly the same as we have done, regardless of the team. We’re doing the same - going out to win the game, be aggressive and be on the front foot.
“We’re not going out to allow teams to dominate us and hopefully that will be proved in the game against Everton. We’re going to take it to them, see what they’ve got and prove why we’re in that battle with them and hopefully take a few points away from that.
“We’ve grown in confidence over the last couple of weeks and the gaffer has found a formation and a team that is working for us.
"She has made it very clear that we want to go into every game and try to take points. It’s not about who we’re playing against. We take every game as it comes and we don’t change who we are for any game.
“We know Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal are big teams, but we proved before the sending off against Chelsea that we could go toe-to-toe with them for the first 20-25 minutes. Regardless of who we come against in the next few weeks, we’re going to set up the same.”
All times GMT.