That’s the message from City captain Steph Houghton ahead of Saturday night’s Continental Cup Final against Chelsea.
Gareth Taylor’s side lock horns with Emma Hayes’ side the showpiece encounter, as the two teams meet for the first time in a Cup Final.
Houghton, who has lifted the trophy on three occasions with the Club, is sadly unable to feature, having undergone Achilles surgery, but the skipper will still be heavily involved in leading the team, as we seek a fourth success in the competition.
The centre-back will no doubt be providing plenty of encouragement for her teammates in the build-up to the game and she shared some of those words of wisdom with mancity.com, urging belief, unmatched effort and focus…
Captain’s message
“My message to the team is: have the belief that you can go and win this trophy.
“We’re facing one of the best teams in Chelsea but we knew it would be a tough game once we’d reached the semi-finals and we have so many talented footballers ourselves.
“To be honest, I don’t think I need to say too much to the girls – I certainly don’t need to get them up for a Cup Final – but it will be a team effort and we just need to have that belief.
“We do the hard work every single day, training to the highest standard we can, and to win, it takes a combination of everything – sticking together as a team, playing football the way we do, everyone giving 100%…
“When we play to our best, there’s no better team in this league. Stick to the process, do the basics right, give absolutely everything and have no regrets. Play the City way and fight to the end!
“Earn the right to play our football. When we’re on the top of our game, we have lots of energy, we’re aggressive and of course, this is a trophy we want to win – it’s one that means a lot to this Football Club and that’s why players come here: to win silverware.
“This is our first opportunity this season to be successful and if we do all of those things, hopefully the trophy will be coming back to Manchester – and we deserve to lift a trophy.
“We had a difficult start to the season with the number of injuries we had but we all rose to the challenge. There were good and bad moments but I’m so proud of the way we reacted, pulling together as players and staff.
“There was so much outside noise as well and that could have affected us but we didn’t let it – we were really professional and stayed focused on ourselves.
“That gives me even more motivation to prove to everybody that we can have a successful season, then get even better and then go on to lift more trophies.
“It’s a massive weekend for the Club with the two Manchester Derbies as well, so hopefully it will be one to remember and if we can lift this trophy, it will be the first of many...
“Bring it on… Come on, City!”
BIG CITY WEEKENDER
One cup final and two Manchester Derbies… download the official Man City app to make the most of the Big City Weekender.
Our Men’s, Women’s and Under-18s sides are all in action across the weekend, and we’ll have full coverage on the Man City app to help you stay close to the action in one place.
