EXCLUSIVE: Grace Palmer of Oxford United on ambition ahead of Women’s FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough | OneFootball

Grace Palmer (Oxford United)

Grace Palmer is ambitious – and she says that’s why Oxford United is the right club for her.

After a slow start to the season, the team are now unbeaten in their last five matches – and are about to face fellow third-tier side Middlesbrough in the fourth round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.

“Obviously, we didn’t get off to the start of the season that we’d have hoped, but it was quite a new group, so that was always going to take time,” she tells SheKicks.net.

“But we’re definitely getting into a rhythm now and the group’s really, really good, and close off the pitch, which is helping our results on the pitch at the moment.”

After a season with Burnley, and previously spending time at Lewes in WSL2, the former England youth international is looking to get back to the second tier as soon as possible.

Grace Palmer (Oxford United)

“At the end of last season, I was looking for somewhere else to progress my football and somewhere I was going to enjoy my football,” she says.

“[Oxford] set out where they wanted to be in the next two or three years, and that’s exactly where I want to be in my career.”

Grace Palmer: Oxford United want to keep momentum going

Oxford United are currently fifth in the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier, and Palmer hopes that they will make some inroads into the ten-point gap between them and leaders AFC Bournemouth.

“Our goal now is to just finish as high as we can,” she says, “and you never know, stranger things have happened.

“Our goal is definitely just to continue our momentum. Five games on the bounce now that we’ve won – just continue that, concede as little goals as we can and keep scoring, because that was one of our issues at the start of the season, that we maybe weren’t scoring enough goals, but we’ve found our rhythm with that now.

“So just finish as high as we can and get prepared for next season to hopefully get promotion.”

And before then, they’ll continue to enjoy their run in the Women’s FA Cup – starting this weekend as they face a team from the Northern Premier.

“Middlesbrough, we don’t necessarily know as well as some of the other teams we’ve played so far,” she admits, “but we’re doing our usual analysis.

“Everyone loves the FA Cup and it should hopefully be a good day.”