Jo Potter on Arsenal: It's going to be a great occasion
Crystal Palace Women’s Manager Jo Potter spoke to the media ahead of the Eagles’ trip to face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium this Sunday.
You can watch her full press conference on Palace TV, just click above!
Fresh off the back of an impressive opening-day win against Everton, Potter discussed team news, heaped praise on two of her new players and explained how the squad are preparing for a tough test in North London.
The Palace Manager provided an update on squad availability ahead of Sunday's clash, noting that the squad are in a good place following the recent 1-0 win.
Potter said: "We're obviously coming off the back of a positive result, so everything's in a good place. Players are in a good spot so yeah, we're ready to go.
"We've got one or two niggles. We're trying to leave it as late as possible to make a decision on one or two players, but there's a few that may be available, maybe not."
Looking ahead to Sunday's fixture at the Emirates Stadium, Potter acknowledged the quality of the opposition.
She admitted: "It's going to be tough. We know what Arsenal are like, especially at the Emirates – they've got a very good record there. It's going to be a great occasion for my players, but coming into that game off the back of a very positive result will help.
"We know they've got some world-class players, but we've got to make sure that we're sticking to our processes and doing what we do really well, trying to show up and make it as difficult as possible.
"It's about being comfortable without the ball for long periods of time, which could happen and which everybody would expect. But we also know that we've got some real qualities when we do get the ball and how we can potentially hurt Arsenal the other way."
Finally, Potter praised the impact of key figures in the squad, with two new signings catching the eye last week.
She mentioned new No.9 Bethany England - who led the line impressively against Everton, and even prevented a certain goal with a clearance off the line.
Potter said: "Beth [England]'s great in both boxes. Everybody can see the ability that she has in her aggression to be able to attack the ball both offensively and defensively, and those moments are just instinct and years of knowing that there's a danger there and dropping into the right area. You can't teach those moments.
"She's built up a great rapport with the younger players and is just guiding them in the right way. If we've got somebody like her guiding the way for our new young talent that's very early in their career, then they're going to be in a good position to learn from one of the best."
One of those players is 23-year-old Lexi Lloyd-Smith, who bagged the only goal of the game last week.
Speaking about her new No.7, Potter said: "I've been a fan of Lexi for many years now. I knew what we could potentially get, and I still don't know where Lexi can get to – her ceiling is as high as she wants it to be.
"She got the league talking on the very first day. The challenge for her is now to keep doing that consistently and showing up week in, week out."
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