‘We’ve got nothing but respect’ – Manchester United boss Skinner previews Crystal Palace | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that his side have full respect for latest opponents Crystal Palace and that The Eagles have a good chance of achieving Barclays Women’s Super League survival.

The Red Devils take on the South Londoners at the Leigh Sports Village this afternoon.

Crystal Palace are fighting for their lives and have shown some improved form of late. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Manchester United boss Skinner said that Crystal Palace have a good chance of staying in the league and that his side won’t take them for granted.

“When I look at teams that have come up before, I think they’re probably one of the best-equipped to have a chance of staying in the league,” Skinner said. “They’ve got a good set-up and the club are supporting them.

“From our perspective, we’ve got nothing but respect. We’ve got to hit this game really hard in order to try and win it.”

Manchester United are now just two wins away from beating last season’s points tally. Whilst achieving that feat would be a marker of progress, Skinner wants the hard work to continue.

He said “It’s an internal marker for me but for the team, it’s much more about performance. There isn’t anyone in the team that doesn’t want the three points but you don’t get those unless you earn them, especially in this league; if you drop your intensity levels for one second, the other team are in.

“For us, it is becoming more difficult but I just want us to enjoy every game. From now to the end of the season, through the good times and the bad, let’s stick together and get those points.”

Manchester United have a five-point cushion in the race for UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification. If The Red Devils are to secure a European return, Skinner says that the club will have to add experience to the squad.

He said “You plan but you don’t presume that you’re going to be there. For us, we’ve got many difficult challenges along the way but if that was the reality, I think we’d need to add in-depth to the team in terms of experience, some of the things that we learnt from last time. Our head-to-head knockout game was a semi-finalist of that year.

“We would have to recruit. We are looking into future transfer windows anyway, this window, the next window; you look three windows ahead really and then it’s about bringing in players with the right experience, not just quality.”

Manchester United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Crystal Palace kicks-off at 12pm. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.