Slegers calls for Arsenal’s focus and concentration against Aston Villa | OneFootball

Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers says that her side need to be focused and concentrated when they travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa on Wednesday evening.

The Gunners celebrated reaching this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final after defeating Lyon 5-3 on aggregate at the weekend but the focus now quickly shifts back to domestic action in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

Arsenal’s next test is against an Aston Villa side that are now assured of league safety. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, head coach Slegers said that her side must be focused and concentrated going into the game.

“They’re a good team, they’ve secured their spot in the league for next year, so I guess they’re happy with that,” Slegers said.

“They’ve changed their structure a little bit. Of course, they come from two wins in the league and I think they will be free in the way they will try to take on the game. We are very aware of what they can bring to the game and where they come from, so we need to be 100-percent focused and concentrated on what we need to do.”

The emotions came flooding out of the Arsenal players as they secured their famous European success in Lyon at the weekend. Slegers has confidence in her side’s ability to manage their emotions going into their latest game.

She said “We’ve been very good in games to regulate our emotions and so I think that’s a quality that the team has. That’s going to be needed now as well. I also think we don’t want to neglect emotions because they can be turned into a lot of positive energy. That’s the balance we try to find, to find the perfect preparation for us.”

With a UEFA Women’s Champions League final appearance now in the bag, Slegers emphasised the importance of Arsenal achieving their remaining domestic target.

She said “We had two objectives for the block and that was going to the final and doing our job in the WSL by getting four [wins] out of four. We’ve done one and now it’s Aston Villa tomorrow and all we want to do is get three points because we want to keep the pressure on in the WSL.”

Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Aston Villa kicks-off at 6pm on Wednesday evening.