Birmingham City Ladies will take on Bristol Academy on Wednesday with both teams yet to win in the league this season.
Bristol, who this week appointed Willie Kirk as head coach, are without a point in 2015 and have suffered some heavy defeats in their opening fixtures, including a 5-2 loss to Notts County last time out.
Birmingham have struggled for form since beating FAWSL 1 champions Liverpool Ladies in the FA Women’s Cup at the beginning of the season, but will be buoyed by the return of Karen Carney, Kirsty Linnett and Freda Ayisi who all made appearances off the bench last weekend against Chelsea.
Despite their recent defeat to the league leaders, Birmingham defender Kerys Harrop is hopeful her side are still in with a shot of the title. “We had a great start to the season last year but as we saw Liverpool didn’t have a great start last year and they ended up winning the league, so it’s still all to play for.”
Bristol captain Grace McCatty is also confident that her side can climb back up the table. Speaking to the official WSL website she said: “There were a number of teams last season who made strong starts and pulled away quickly.
“With the exception of Chelsea that hasn’t really happened this year, everyone is dropping points here and there – Birmingham included.
“There is a lot more of a level playing field this year. You used to have walkovers in this league and WSL 2, those days are gone now and you feel like you can go into any game and get a result. It makes the league a lot more exciting.”
The Vixen’s new manager will watch on from the stands for the visit to Birmingham and will officially take charge on the 9 May in the game against Arsenal.
