Liverpool midfielder Sophie Ingle believes winning The FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup would be just reward for how the club have coped with their season of transition.
Ingle was one of several new faces brought to the club in the close season by boss Scott Rogers, himself enjoying a first campaign in the Liverpool hot seat after Matt Beard’s departure.
After a slow start to 2016, the Reds have really found their feet in recent weeks and are unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions.
Birmingham v Liverpool
FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup
Quarter Final
2pm, Sunday 7 August
Solihull Moors FC
Tickets priced £7 adults, £4 concessions
On Sunday they travel to Birmingham City for a Continental Tyres Cup quarter final and Ingle feels progress for Liverpool all the way to October’s Final at Manchester City’s Academy Stadium would be a major statement.
She said: “This is a really important game for Liverpool, because we have a chance to go through to the semi-final and perhaps go on and win something.
“We might have gone through a lot of changes this year, but we still set our expectations high as a team and we would love to win a trophy.
“Birmingham are going to be a tough team and we’re expecting another exciting game. They haven’t conceded many this season, but we have always got a goal in us, we don’t struggle to score.
“It might not be a high-scoring game, but it will certainly be interesting.”
The two clubs met in the opening game of the season in March, Liverpool winning 1-0 on home turf thanks to winger Shanice van de Sanden’s debut goal.
Birmingham have lost just once since then though, and are above the Reds in the FA WSL 1 table.
This fixture kicks off a run of three successive home matches for the Blues, and defender Kerys Harrop, the club’s longest-serving player, believes the home faithful can give Birmingham the edge.
“We’re looking forward to Liverpool,” said the 25-year-old. “We’ve got a really good chance.
“Being at home is a big advantage, but it’s always a tough game against Liverpool.
“It’s a cup game so it will be a battle, but we’re sure if we can stick to our game plan we can get a good result and progress to the semi-finals.
“We’ll have to do some work on keeping possession because we didn’t do that very well in our last match against Doncaster.”
