Women's football news
Written by: Joe
Lewes FC interim boss Craig Gill says the players are primed for a big performance at Charlton on Sunday after having their last two games called off due to Covid.
The Rooks haven’t played since the dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Reading in the Conti Cup back in mid-December.
Forced postponements of league fixtures against both Crystal Palace and Durham means the focus has been on individual training regimes over the Christmas period.
But with the players now back in the camp, Gill is hoping to pick up the pace again and get the new year off to a bang.
“It’s been frustrating, obviously, because the girls have worked particularly well,” says Gill. “Typically, as they do always.
“It leads us into this week where we trained well again. We’ve had a few Covid cases but those players are now back in the squad and in contention for selection.
“So we’re very much looking forward to going to Charlton on Sunday and hope to replicate the victory we earned in our last game against them – that 2-0 win with good goals from Paula Howells and Amelia Hazard. We’re hoping for some of the same again on Sunday.”
Time to reflect
Lewes travel to The Oakwood on Sunday knowing Charlton will be no pushovers, with the Addicks unbeaten in their last five games across all competitions.
Back in October the Rooks earned a 2-0 victory at the Dripping Pan thanks to those two first-half strikes from Howells and Hazard.
And the extended break due to Covid disruptions means Gill has had time to reflect on the past few weeks.
“Our last game was Reading in the Conti Cup where the girls put in a great performance for a deserved 1-1 draw, and then won the penalty shootout for the bonus point,” adds the boss.
“That gave us a good impetus for what would have been us going into the Crystal Palace game. But unfortunately that was postponed because of Covid.
“We went into the Christmas break – the players all had individual development plans and fitness programmes by Christos Andreou, our sports scientist. They followed that and reported in daily, which is a great credit to them all.
“So while the players had a break they worked throughout it.
“It meant that when we planned to come back against Durham we re-tested them on the bank holiday Monday, we trained well that week and were looking forward to that Sunday game with Durham.
“But of course that was postponed because of Covid too.”