City travel to the Chigwell Construction Stadium for our first match of 2023, with kick-off scheduled for 18:45 (UK).
With our Continental Cup fixture against Leicester postponed back in December, it has been over a month since our last competitive action due to the WSL’s winter break.
Nonetheless, the boss has been impressed by his players’ sharpness ahead of what promises to be a demanding schedule.
“When we ended before Christmas there were good numbers in terms of availability. Currently so far everyone’s come back looking good and sharp,” Taylor reflected.
“We’ve got a good period of games if we can progress in some of the competitions and have a potential to play every three or four days and to do that we need good squad availability.
“At this moment, everyone is fit and available.
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“I think there’s big demands on players not just physically, but mentally. The routine is pretty intense, I think mentally players need that time to switch off with family and let their bodies recover.
“We’ve been pleased with how they’ve returned, it’s a difficult subject to anticipate how long they need.
“The players are honest in doing their programmes while they’re away from us. The early signs of the players returning have been really positive.”
City come into the tie on the back of a ten-match unbeaten run, winning nine of those encounters in all competitions.
With Arsenal and Chelsea – the WSL’s top two - facing off in Sunday’s lunchtime kick-off, this weekend’s clash also presents Taylor’s side with a chance to claw back some ground on the summit.
Indeed, while acknowledging that there’s plenty of hard work still to come, the boss believes City have a real opportunity to ‘attack’ the second half of the campaign.
He said: “It’s always difficult when you’re in a good moment to stop and restart again [but] the important thing for us is not to expect it to just slip back into the rhythm straight away.
“We need to earn it and by doing that we need to be smart with what we do.
“We’re capable. The opportunity is there for us to pick up from where we left off and really attack the second half of the season.”
