Leanne Ross urges Glasgow City to focus on prospect of “showpiece occasion” cup final | OneFootball

Glasgow City head coach Leanne Ross has urged her team to focus on the prospect of a “showpiece occasion” as they prepare to face Celtic in the semi-final of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup at Hampden Park on Saturday.

“We’ve been challenging on all fronts and that’s down to the performances we’ve put in throughout the season so I’m hopeful that we can deliver that again tomorrow and get ourselves into that showpiece occasion which ends the season,” she told the media on Friday.

The two sides are very familiar with each other, having drawn 1-1 in the league during midweek, which Ross described as “maybe a good thing and a bad thing”.

“On the one hand you know exactly what you’re going to face,” she said. “It may be a bit different with them having a player sent off the other night. That maybe changed the way they setup defensively, or how they played and the challenges that they were able to pose us in the game.

“But there are a lot of positives we can take from the game and after watching it back I’ve not changed my mind. I think it’s a game that we should definitely have won and we will be looking to ensure we convert the chances we create on Saturday.”

Leanne Ross: Playing at Hampden is an amazing opportunity

And to play at the national stadium creates a sense of occasion, says Ross.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to go and play there; to have friends and family watching as well. So that’s more what we’re buying into, the occasion rather than Hampden the place itself, but it’s a huge honour, especially for the Scottish players, to go and play at the national stadium.

“I think it’s a really exciting time for the players.”

Glasgow City have already won the league cup this season, and sit third in the league.