Our European campaign begins in the Spanish capital, before we welcome Las Blancas back to the Academy Stadium next week for the second leg of our second round clash.
It’s been a quick turnaround for Taylor’s side ahead of the new campaign, with several of our Olympic stars, including new Australian duo Hayley Raso and Alanna Kennedy, only returning to the fold last week following an extended summer break.
Nonetheless, Vicky Losada, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and Ruby Mace have all enjoyed a full pre-season, as they continue to settle in to new surroundings at the City Football Academy.
Taylor believes they have each brought a new dimension to our already hugely talented squad, and is particularly delighted by the impact some of our experienced internationals have had on Mace’s progress.
“It’s great. When you get different players that we’ve signed, they bring different things,” he reflected in his pre-match press conference.
“(Ruby Mace‘s) been fantastic. I think we see a player with a really big future and we need to make sure we nurture her.
“But what I’ve seen so far is a willingness to try new things. What’s also helped her is that Alex (Greenwood) didn’t go to the Olympics, so we’ve had five or six weeks of training.
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“With someone like Alex to learn from, who I think is a top, top player, that’s only going to help younger players like Ruby and Esme (Morgan).
“Khadija (Shaw) is high on confidence. She’s slightly different to Ellen (White) in how she plays but we have two great goalscorers there.
“Vicky (Losada) knows what it takes to win and be successful, I’m sure she’ll drag everyone across the line with her and the youngsters have a great icon to look up to.”
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