Bristol City Women head coach Steve Kirby has emphasised the importance of his side developing a winning mentality as they prepare to face Portsmouth at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
The Robins are unbeaten so far in October, having secured victories in their last two league games against Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers, as well as picking up two points against Women’s Super League club Leicester City in the opening match of the League Cup earlier this month.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s fixture against recently promoted Portsmouth, the City boss conveyed a desire for his team to go into the game feeling confident in their ability to secure a positive result.
“We will see Portsmouth as an opportunity to win the game,” Kirby asserted. “I want the whole mindset of the team, the staff, and the club to be that any game we play is an opportunity to win and one we should be expecting to win, so it won’t be from a disrespectful point of view to Portsmouth at all, I want us to do that regardless of who we are playing.
“We’re expecting a tough game,” he added. “They have good movement from the front players, and they like to play decent football, so it will be a challenge.”
Pompey are yet to pick up a single point so far this season after winning promotion from the Women’s National League South last campaign and with 16 goals conceded in their last three games in all competitions, the Robins will be hoping to take full advantage of Portsmouth’s difficult start to life in the Championship in front of their home fans on Sunday.
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With ambitions of a swift return to the WSL under his tenure, the City Women head coach made it clear that positive performances and results are beginning to become the expectation for the Robins if they are to meet their targets for the season.
“I expect and I want to see us score some goals and excite the fans in our play,” Kirby said. “Not just because it’s this opponent, but I want that to be a part of our identity and something that the fans and those who are watching the game always see in our team.
“If we’re going to do what I think we can achieve, then that [winning mentality] is going to have to start being normal in our psyche and our thinking, because if we’re going to do what I think we need to achieve, that’s going to have to be how we are regardless of the opponent.
“We’re going to have to go in thinking, expecting, and trying to win every game.”