Taylor feels heat of derby clash as City try to hold their nerve
Gareth Taylor believes today’s lunchtime clash between his Manchester City side and Manchester United at the
Etihad Stadium will be the biggest derby yet.
City are neck-and-neck with Chelsea in the race for the Women’s Super League title heading into the final six games. Emma Hayes’ side travel to West Ham United tomorrow. Asked if the stakes were at their highest for the cross-city clash, City boss Taylor said: “It would be hard to deny that.
“For us certainly the games are really important now but, whether it’s Man United this week, Liverpool next week, West Ham after that, Bristol City, those games are important as well. The margin for error is really tight and any dropped point can be quite damaging. “Hopefully we can get a really good crowd in. We’re looking at trying to capture the imaginations of as many young people as we possibly can.
“I’m sure the support’s going to be there and they are going to be right behind us.”
While City have suffered a double cup disappointment in recent weeks, they have won their last 10 matches in the league, a run that started with a 3-1 victory over United at Old Trafford last November.
It has been a difficult season for Marc Skinner’s side, 12 points behind City in fourth.
But he believes they can pull off an upset, saying: “We’ve got to chase and that’s what we’re here to do. We’ve got to go to the Etihad, a very difficult place, against a very difficult team. “Not many teams do [beat City], and that’s what we’ve got to break. We’ve done it before.” United will miss Leah Galton with a thigh strain, while City’s Khadija Shaw is set for her second straight start after scored at Brighton last week.