READING FC WOMEN’s manager Kelly Chambers has admitted that her team need to be at their best to cause an FA Cup shock against Chelsea.
The Royals host the current cup holders in the quarter-final of the competition on Sunday and are hoping to progress despite their struggles in the Women’s Super League this season.
“There’s nothing new (injuries) so we’ve got a full squad from everyone that was available from Arsenal.
“Hopefully we should Deanne Cooper back in the next week or two which will be nice.
“It’s what the FA Cup is about, drawing top teams. An exception being last weekend, we like to raise our game against them and we had a strong analysis of the Arsenal game.
“It’s a game that we were very disappointed in terms of performance so that’s something we want to put right.”
The Reading boss was displeased with her team’s performance in their 4-0 defeat to Arsenal and believes they are capable of much better.
She continued: “We want to show more aggression, positivity and more of us. I don’t think we did that against Arsenal, we went into a bit of a shell which is not normally us.
“It’s full focus on the Chelsea game then we can spin back into league action after that.
“We didn’t show our identity against Arsenal. We’re usually quite aggressive defensively and like to be front footed. It’s about us getting back into our mode and what we want to get out of the game.
“Chelsea have a lot of threat and quality, but it’s a team that we’ve always had a good game against.”
Despite being at opposite ends of the table, Reading did win the last meeting at the Select Car Leasing Stadium between the teams.
Deanne Rose scored the only goal of the game to help the Royals to a stunning victory over Emma Hayes’ team that eventually went on to win the Women’s Super League title that season.
“Anything is possible. We know we have to be at our best and last weekend shows what happens when we are not.
“Once the whistle goes, we’re in competitive mode. She (Emma Hayes) has helped me in many ways and vice versa.
“Everyone knows how intense it can be whether it’s them trying to win the league or us trying to stay up.”
