Gunners to catch Bristol napping

Bristol Academy v Arsenal
The FA WSL Continental Cup
Semi-Final
7.30pm, Monday 3 September 2012
Stoke Gifford Stadium, Bristol Academy WFC

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Arsenal Ladies manager Laura Harvey has urged her side to take advantage of Bristol Academy’s heavy schedule when the sides meet for a second time in four days.

The sides could not be separated in Thursday’s FA WSL encounter at Meadow Park, which finished 1-1 after Kelly Smith’s second-half equaliser.

They will meet again this evening in the Continental Cup Semi-Final, this time at Bristol’s Stoke Gifford Stadium, when a winner must be decided on the night.

It will be Bristol’s third game in just seven days and Harvey wants her Arsenal side to make the most of any tiredness in the opposition ranks.

She said: “It is Bristol’s third game in a week and they showed on Thursday they’re quite tired and we’ve got to capitalise on that.

"But we have a big squad and we can change personnel around. We can utilise the squad again.”

Bristol manager Mark Sampson admits his side will need to produce another all-action display to stand a chance, but says they are all oozing confidence after a superb run of results.

Arsenal were comfortable 3-0 winners when the sides last met at the Stoke Gifford Stadium, but Sampson is confident his players have learned from that.

He said: “When Arsenal went ahead that day we tried to chase the game and they punished us on the counter-attack.

"But we learned from that, which is a sign of a mature group of players.

“We are growing in maturity, growing in confidence and that’s ten games unbeaten for us, we are still unbeaten away from home so we will take confidence from that.

“Our players are growing in confidence game by game. The more games you go without losing, the more confidence you’re going to get.

“The players know they face a massive task on Monday, Arsenal showed on Thursday that they’re a world-class team with the sort of football they play.

“We will need another huge effort on Monday, we’ll need good concentration levels, stay compact, work really hard and make sure we’re always a threat on the counter-attack. If we do that, who knows? We might get a result.”

For more details on all of these games, and to keep up to date with The FA WSL throughout the season visit the official League website: www.FAWSL.com