Foxes meet Lionesses

Millwall Lionesses v Leicester City
The FA Tesco Women's Premier League Cup
Second Round
2pm, Sunday 12 October 2008


The Foxes step into the Lionesses den on Sunday for a match-up whose winner will be shot at by the Gunners.

It sounds a daunting prospect using club nicknames – and it will be no less daunting in reality when either Northern Division outfit Leicester City or Southern Division Millwall Lionesses face The FA Tesco Women’s Premier League Champions and FA Cup holders Arsenal in next month’s Premier League Cup Quarter-Final.

Arsenal have already reached the last eight after gaining a revenge victory over Everton, who beat them in last season’s Final.

Millwall’s meeting with Leicester was postponed last week but is set to go ahead on Sunday and with the two sides knowing that whoever goes through will face the country’s top team for a place in the Semi-Finals.

As tough an encounter as that will undoubtedly prove, one man who would love the challenge is Millwall manager Keith Boanas, who with his previous club Charlton Athletic faced Arsenal on numerous occasions – most memorably perhaps in the 2006 League Cup Final, which the Addicks won 2-1.

"It would be fantastic to come up against Arsenal again," said Boanas, "but I’m not going to get ahead of myself because Leicester City are a good team and I know we’re in for a difficult afternoon on Sunday.

"They’ve only just come up from the Combination to the Northern Division, but they’ve acquitted themselves well so far and had some very good results."

As well as taking ten points from their first six Northern Division games the Foxes beat Aston Villa 6-2 in the last round of the League Cup.

The Lionesses, whose unbeaten Southern Division start has brought them ten points from four games, had an even more emphatic Cup victory – they hammered Ipswich 7-1.

So there should be a few goals on Sunday, when Boanas will send his team out with a final reminder of the prize that victory would bring them.

"I’ve talked to the players in training about the possibility of playing against Arsenal and what a great experience it could be for them," said the manager.

"We’ve got players who are plenty good enough to play in the top flight and if we get through we’ll have a real go at Arsenal.