Williams fired up for big clash with Everton

Sunderland Ladies defender Victoria Williams says tonight’s home league clash against Everton is bigger than Sunday’s FA Cup clash with Manchester City.

The Lady Black Cats went down 4-2 after extra-time to miss out on a place in the semi-finals.

The 27-year-old Williams believes she and her teammates can take plenty of heart from their cup display though as they look to cast off the shackles against Everton.

“You kind of always expect a team like Manchester City, with the strength in depth they’ve got, to dominate over extra-time – I think most of us had emptied the tank by 90,” s a i d Williams. “There were a lot of positives to take and a lot of confidence to take going into tonight’s game.

“We’ve looked at trying to be more confident in our forward play and I think we took great strides towards that on Sunday, so it will be about carrying that forward.

“We were braver in possession and we weren’t afraid to commit numbers.

“Sometimes, it’s about consolidating. Whilst we’re not afraid of anybody, you have to respect the quality that teams have, so we can’t just be throwing numbers forward, but we did look at it as an area we could be better at.

“It’s a bigger game than Sunday, really, for us. It’s not going to be easy for either team. We’re next to each other in the table and they either catch us up on points or we pull away from them for a bit.”