South Shields Women’s Monica Innes has spoken out about the “excitement” of playing in front of a 1st Cloud Arena crowd this Sunday, when the Mariners take on Hull United Women.
The lasses will take to that pitch for the first time since October this weekend, hoping to put together a strong run that will see them finish as high up in the table as possible.
It will have been three weeks since the last game (a 5-2 win against Hartlepool), but Innes believes the team are fit and fresh for the upcoming run-in.
“Regardless of going a long stretch without a game, I think we are ready to tackle whatever comes to us,” she said.
“We’ve still been training hard and got our heads focused on doing the best we can in the league.”
In the reverse tie, Shields battled to a 4-0 away win - a result which put the lasses top of the division on the opening day of the season back in September.
The visitors haven’t had the easiest of seasons, picking up just four wins in 15 matches but Innes is aware of the fact every team has a point to prove, and Hull United are no exception.
She added: “Of course the previous score we had against Hull does give us that little boost of confidence going into Sunday, but we take each game as it comes and adapt where we need to.
“The hard work we put in at training and the togetherness we have as a team will carry us through and hopefully get us the result we deserve, plenty of goals and another clean sheet against them.”
Highlights at 1st Cloud this season have included the emphatic 9-0 win against Hartlepool, which was recommended by many as their moment of the season.
And getting the opportunity to play in front of a big crowd at a top-class venue can only be a good thing in her view.
She continued: “When playing at 1st Cloud, the atmosphere from the fans that come to support and the overall feeling you have as a player being on that field does have an impact.
“Playing on a 3G or at Harton has nothing compared to playing at 1st Cloud: the excitement, the quality of the pitch and the supporters will always be massive positive factors for us when playing there.
“As a team, we all do love to play there and we certainly deserve the time to play on that pitch.”
Kick-off at 1st Cloud Arena this Sunday, April 14th is at 2pm. Admission is £3 for adults, and under 12s go free.