As Manchester City Women bid to snatch the FA Women’s Super League title away from Chelsea Ladies on the final day of the league season, the City and England skipper has called for the Blue faithful to turn out and cheer her side on to victory.
Nick Cushing’s side lie two points behind the league leaders and host Notts County Ladies at the Academy Stadium. A win would keep the Continental Cup holders in title contention and secure a place in the Champions League - and Houghton asserts the supporters can play a part.
She declared: “The fans have been fantastic from the first game of the season.
“Without a doubt, they’ve been our twelfth player for the last however many games and we need them more than ever this weekend.
“We need to create an atmosphere where we can go and perform to the best of our ability.”
City ensured they remained in the hunt for the league crown with a thumping 6-1 win over Bristol Academy yesterday - a result the skipper was delighted with, particularly as her side had only days to prepare.
She explained: “It’s always difficult to come back after an international break – players have been all over the world – so to come back and win 6-1 was brilliant.
“The objective was to get three points and to score as many goals as possible to put us top of the table and put pressure on Chelsea before they played.”
The Londoners regained top spot with a 4-0 win at Liverpool last night but Houghton hasn’t given up hope City can still lift the league title on Sunday.
“Chelsea are a great side,” she stated. “They’ve proved that all season – but it’s important we focus on us. That’s what we’ve been doing since the World Cup.
“Our form beforehand wasn’t what it should be but we’ve been unstoppable in the second half of the season. To go so many games unbeaten is a great run and we’re confident.
Our team is full of quality and aside from that, we’ve got girls that work really hard every single day.
“A lot of people expect us to turn up and perform because of the quality we have but you don’t see what happens from 8:30am to 4pm each day - whether we’re grafting in the gym or our on the pitch trying to improve our game.
“We’re all raring to go and looking to better ourselves all the time.
“Over the past few weeks, I think our hard work has paid off with our run of form. Hopefully, we can get the job done on Sunday.”
Show your support for City at the Blues’ clash with Notts County. Ticket information can be found here.
