Steph Houghton insists she will not rest until Manchester City are consistent Women’s Super League contenders - despite conceding the title may be beyond her grasp this season.
The 25-year-old has been entrusted with the captain’s armband for City’s 2014 WSL campaign – her first in sky blue after joining from Arsenal.
“Plans for the club are long-term and I think this season is all about getting to know each other as a team”
Steph Houghton
It is been an exciting off-season for the WSL newcomers, with Houghton’s fellow England internationals Karen Bardsley, Jill Scott and Toni Duggan having also joined.
But the Durham-born defender, who started her career with Sunderland Women, admits the club’s expectations are going to remain grounded – at least for the short-term.
“Everything is very new for the team and the staff and we will just be taking one game at a time,” she said.
“There is no pressure on us – it's not like you have to win this trophy, and that trophy and so on.
“Of course we want to compete and win football games and that is what we will aim to do every time we step on a football pitch but to say we will be contenders for the title is a little bit too early.
"Plans for the club are long-term and I think this season is all about getting to know each other as a team.
"Of course it [playing in the Champions League] will be something to aim for in the future. I've experienced playing in the Champions league before and other competitions which is a great part of the game.
“The Champions League is a competition you want to be in because as a player you want to be competing against the best players in Europe, that's no different for me now I'm at Manchester City.
“We want to be playing against that standard of opponent week-in, week-out and as I club that is something we will be aiming for. It may not come this season or the season after but we will be aiming to get there."
Steph Houghton smashes home Team GB's winning goal against Brazil at Wembley Stadium
Houghton represented Team GB at the 2012 Olympics in London before captaining Arsenal to an FA Cup and Continental Cup double in 2013.
But following the Gunners’ third-place finish in the WSL last term, she decided it was time for a change.
“I left Arsenal because it was a new challenge,” she added. “I had been with Arsenal for three years and with Manchester City I just got that feeling that it was going to be something big and I wanted to be here from the beginning.
“I didn't want to come say two years down the line. And to be part of something so professional was a big draw to the club, I get to train everyday and be part of a club that has a one-club mentality.”
