Gunning for success

The FA WSL champions Arsenal take on Everton on Sunday, at Marine's Arriva Stadium with the Gunners going into the second half of the season in the familiar position of first place, five points clear of their nearest rivals Everton.

Following the success of Team GB this summer, Everton welcome back Jill Scott, Fara Williams and Rachel Brown from Olympic duty, whilst Arsenal have Kelly Smith, Ellen White, Rachel Yankee, Kim Little, Alex Scott and Stephanie Houghton available again.

Striker White is set to lead the line for Arsenal and, speaking about her Olympic experience, said: "It was an unbelievable experience that I find hard to put into words.

"The amount of support at the Olympics was overwhelming and it changed the perception of woman’s football all over the country"

Although Arsenal are five points ahead of Everton with a game in hand, White is ready for a tough game. "The games where we’ve played Everton this season we’ve dominated, but they have fantastic players," she added.

Although Arsenal are favourites to retain their title, White is not taking anything for granted and hopes to continue the form that saw them rise to the top.

"We want to continue from where we left off, we were knocked out of The FA Cup so now the league is our priority. We will just take each game at a time and that will help us in achieving our season objectives of retaining the league."

Meanwhile, Doncaster Rovers Belles take on Chelsea Ladies on Saturday in their second home game in the space of a week after their 2-1 defeat by Everton. The South Yorkshire side sit rock bottom of the table, as the match also marks Emma Hayes’ first game in charge of Chelsea.

"No-one likes being at the wrong end of the table and we are no different," said assistant manager Paul Green. 

"We do have a lot of games in hand on our rivals to try and push up the table. It's now up to us to make them count and get some points on the board."

And Green is expecting a tough test from Chelsea: "They have just had a change in manager taking over from Matt Beard so, I'm sure their players will be out to impress the new boss in her first game in charge.

"They are an experienced side who have some good players but we have played them twice already this season and on both occasions, there wasn't too much between the sides."

With Doncaster looking for three points to move  away from the bottom spot and Hayes looking for a win in her first game, this has all the ingredients of an intriguing encounter.