Women's Team midfielder Olivia Greenhalgh happy with Reds' early season "confidence"

Five wins from five games, unbeaten in the league and into the First Round of the SSE Women’s FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history - it’s been an impressive start to the 2018/19 season from FC United Women. Midfielder Olivia Greenhalgh has played a central role in the team’s early season form and has been impressed with how the Reds have got underway, this season. "It’s been a great start for us in both the league and the FA Cup, we’ve picked up where we left off last season. We can’t ask for more than winning every game, can we?!"

Manager Luke Podmore has been able to strengthen an already high quality midfield going in to this season and Greenhalgh has been pleased to see her new teammates thrive in the team’s setup. "Frankie [Sullivan] was a big loss for us in the middle, her role was key in last seasons’ success so I think it’s really important to have players like Hannah [Dale] who have slotted in to our system in the middle so quickly. I think all of the new players have settled in brilliantly so we are lucky to have such a close group so early in the season."

Both Greenhalgh and her central midfield partner Rebecca Foster have been fond of a growing relationship between the two on the pitch. Greenhalgh admits that continuing to build those strong connections has been a key factor in United starting the season in the same vein of form as they finished the last one. "It’s been equally as important to continue to grow the partnerships that flourished last season. For me personally, I formed a strong partnership in the middle with Becks [Foster] last season, we developed a great understanding of how each other play, which has continued this season already. We are basically a double act now!"

Greenhalgh insists that the Reds are flowing with confidence in recent weeks and that the momentum gathered from the opening weeks of the season has been important to the team’s strong start. "I think the confidence from last season has been carried through, we know as a group we can win games and that’s no different in this new division. We always knew we could go further in the FA Cup and that was really the only disappointment we had last year, so it’s brilliant to get to the first round proper this season."

Within that strong start, United have made club history in setting up a First Round SSE Women’s FA Cup tie against Chester-le-Street, next month. Greenhalgh is excited for the opportunities that a competition like the FA Cup can bring, in the coming weeks. "It’s a fantastic achievement and fulfills one of our targets we had set at the start of the season. It’s a chance to show a wider audience how we can play which is always exciting."

Since making the First Round proper of the FA Cup, FC have not took to the pitch spending a three-week break on the sidelines ahead of the trip to Stockport tomorrow. Greenhalgh insists that the break has only been a positive and that the team are raring to go for tomorrow’s game. "I think mid-season breaks can be either positive or negative depending on what you do with them. As we have kept training together throughout, it has definitely been a positive for us to regroup and plan for the upcoming games. Everyone is so eager to get back playing now so Sunday should be a great game!"

Ahead of tomorrow’s clash, the Reds can look back on a momentous Argyle Cup final win, last season, against tomorrow’s opponents. Despite it being the most recent meeting between the sides, the midfielder admits that it gives United no advantage going into the fixture. "I think it will be a tough game tomorrow. Last year’s game was a good battle at times but we’ve progressed from last season and I’m sure they will have too so we can’t think about that game too much."

As they prepare to visit the only other unbeaten side in the league, Greenhalgh believes that it is vital for the Reds keep doing what they do best if they want to come away with another positive result tomorrow. "If we stick to our game and play the way we can as a team, not many teams at this level can handle that. No doubt they will give their all to try and beat us and we will probably come up against players we have played against in the past so winning our individual battles will be important too."

You can see Olivia Greenhalgh and her teammates go to Stockport Sports Village (SK6 1QX) to take on Stockport County LFC tomorrow, 2pm kick-off.

We hope to see you there!

By Mikey Partington