Hope ready for Auld Enemy
Thursday, 03 March, 2011
National Coach has players prepared for second game in 48 hours.
Hope Powell has had just one full day to prime her team for a game against Scotland, but she admits the short time between matches is one of the attractive features of this Cyprus Cup tournament.
“We’ve had a day off to prepare for Scotland and I will make a couple of changes to the team, as I always do in Cyprus,” she revealed.
“That’s the great thing about this tournament especially in a World Cup year. There’s a quick turnaround between matches, you have to think about recovery strategies and how you’re going to play in the next game immediately after your last game has finished, just like we will have to in Germany.”
England beat Italy 2-0 in their Group 1 opener on Wednesday while Scotland lost 1-0 to Canada and Powell is expecting a tough encounter.
“It’s never easy against Scotland; it’s always a good contest. They will no doubt want to come out and make up for their defeat to Canada, so we will have to go into the game very much focused on the job at hand.”
You can follow the match action from Nicosia via The FA’s Twitter page – www.twitter.com/thefadotcom
Kick-off is midday BST.