Reading will be hoping to continue their remarkable start to the season with their first home fixture of 2015, in which they will entertain Watford.
The Rushmoor Community Stadium, also home to Conference South outfit Farnborough, will welcome the Hornets on Thursday evening, as they hunt for their first points of the season.
Having opened their campaign at Oxford United, a 1-0 defeat was soon followed by a 6-0 FA Cup defeat at the hands of Chelsea. Megan Wynne netted her club’s first goal of the season on Saturday in a 4-1 loss to Aston Villa, and she will be hoping to double her tally in their upcoming challenge.
Reading, however, have enjoyed considerably better form – notably star striker Fran Kirby scoring a staggering nine goals in just two games.
As the Royals headed to Yeovil Town for the first game of the season; a 4-2 victory, which saw Kirby net all four, was soon followed by a monumental 7-0 win away to London Bees.
Nevertheless, Watford defender Chloe Gunn believes the visitors will be not deterred by the quality presented by Kelly Chambers’ side.
The WSL 2 promotion favourites fell just six points short of the top spot last season – and with just three defeats season, scored the most goals in the league with Kirby also collecting the Golden Boot.
As Watford finished down the pecking order in seventh, the 22-year-old now believes the star names in Reading’s line-up will not damage the confidence of her side.
“Reading are a very good side, don’t get me wrong about that, but because they’ve got big names like Fran Kirby, I think a lot of people give them too much respect,” Gunn told the official Watford club website.
“There’s no doubt that we’ll give them a good game. Last time we gave them too much respect, but we’re not going to give them an easy ride this time and we’ve been working a lot harder in training to make sure that’s the case.
“I think we’re fitter, we’ve bonded better than we have done before as a team. I think they’ll be shocked. Obviously they have some very strong players, like Kirby – she is a great player, but every side has their weaknesses.”
Understandably, Reading boss Chambers believes her striker, who was recently called up to the England squad for their upcoming friendly, will be firing her club to success once again. After 29 goals during the 2014 season, Chambers believes she is a force to reckon with.
“Fran has always been a goal scorer and any team would love to have her,” said Chambers. “Last season she scored a fantastic amount of goals and there were quite a few teams after her over the winter, but one thing you can say about Fran is she’s a very loyal player and person.
“Looking ahead, in the first couple of games you never know what to expect. We’ve brought in a few players to strengthen the squad, but we’ve kept the spine of the team the same, and hopefully that can help us to stay consistent and build momentum.”
The two sides currently sit at opposite ends of the table, although Watford could potentially climb to fourth with a victory on Thursday evening.
