Birmingham and Everton targeting second spot in WSL this weekend.
Birmingham City Ladies boss David Parker has urged his players to tighten their grip on second place ahead of Sunday’s tricky visit to Lincoln Ladies.
The Blues’ hard-fought 1-0 win over Chelsea Ladies on Thursday evening took them back above Everton Ladies and within six points of league leaders Arsenal Ladies.
Birmingham, who finished second last term, head a pack of five teams with realistic ambitions of securing the second Champions League berth, and manager David Parker believes his side’s fate lies in their own hands.
"The title’s gone - I’ve said it from the start of the second half of the season," he said.
"Arsenal have it in their own hands and I don’t think they’ll throw it away. Our aim is to finish second and make sure we qualify for the Champions League.
"Our destiny is in our own hands. We know that if we do the business, we get second place. It’s not as easy as that - Bristol have picked up a good point against us on Monday night, a great point against Arsenal tonight as well. There are some tricky games to come and it’s going to be a real interesting battle right till the last kick of the season."
Parker then turned his thoughts to Sunday’s trip to Lincoln, and he feels his players will have to tackle a difficult environment to get a result, despite the fact they’re unbeaten against the Lady Imps over the course of the last season and a half.
"We’ve got a reasonable record against Lincoln, long may that continue," he added.
"It’s a difficult place to go to Lincoln, all the environment, the atmosphere, and they’re a great team as well."
Elsewhere, Everton striker Natasha Dowie is refusing to take the visit of struggling WSL side Doncaster lightly on Sunday afternoon.
The 2010 FA Women's Cup winner will be in Mo Marley's squad to face the Belles at the Arriva Stadium at the weekend, with 12 points separating the two clubs but Doncaster are coming into the game on the back of a 2-1 win over Liverpool and Dowie is preparing for a tough challenge.
"Doncaster are near the bottom but that doesn't mean Sunday will be an easy game," said Dowie.
"When we faced them a few weeks ago there was only one goal between the teams. If you look at the table Liverpool are below us, but that was a really tough 90 minutes on Wednesday night and we needed late goals to win.
"Every game in this league is difficult, it's very competitive. There are no walkovers. Any side seems to be able to beat any other at the moment, that's very exciting for the fans."
With Arsenal still unbeaten at the top of the table, having taken 24 points from a possible 30, Dowie is focused on the runners-up spot.
"I think we have to focus on our own game, not what the teams around us are doing," she said.
"As long as we win every game we know we have a very good chance of finishing in second place."
