Carla Ward voiced hope ahead of Aston Villa’s journey to Prenton Park to face Liverpool just a week after their opening day setback to Manchester United at Villa Park.
Many questioned how Kirsty Hanson would react after being shown a red card for a high challenge on Hayley Ladd with just over fifteen minutes of regulation time remaining – although Carla Ward praised her for being ‘the normal Kirsty Hanson we get, day in, day out – so that’s credit to her.’
Ward appeared pleased with her team’s performance against Marc Skinner’s Red Devils, despite failing to pick up any points as Rachel Daly’s opener was shortly followed by a Luca Garca score – before Rachel Williams sealed the away side’s triumph in stoppage time.
The Villa manager was particularly impressed by her team’s elite mindset, saying, ‘we’ve got a bunch who very quickly sought to embrace the humorous approach with [Hanson]… This is a close-knit group, and we all look out for one another.’
Carla Ward then waxed poetic over her opposite number this weekend, hailing Matt Beard’s virtues following Liverpool’s remarkable win against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
‘Beardy’s a fantastic coach and a top man,’ she remarked, ‘and I think he’ll absolutely have them playing right.’
Since his return to Liverpool for his second stint, Beard has supervised the club’s promotion to the Barclays Women’s Super League and guided them to a mid-table finish last season.
‘I don’t think they beat Arsenal by chance,’ Ward added. ‘I think they deserved it after ninety minutes… We have no doubts that it will be a difficult game.’
The match between Liverpool and Aston Villa is planned for 18:45 on Sunday, 8 October, and will be broadcast live by Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
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