Nottingham Forest Women travel to the South Yorkshire on Sunday to begin their FAWNL League Plate campaign.
The Reds will play Doncaster Rovers Belles in the First Round of the FA Women’s National League Plate.
If the scores are level after 90 minutes, the game will continue to extra time and even penalties if the two sides still cannot be separated.
Doncaster Rovers Belles play in the FAWNL Division One Midlands, one league below Forest, where they currently sit in 3rd place with six wins, one draw and two defeats from their season so far.
Forest will also be looking to make it two wins on the bounce after their 3-2 home win over Middlesbrough in the League.
The Reds are expected to make changes to the line-up to allow for rotation to the squad with plenty of options to choose from, emphasised by the fact the Reserves won 6-0 in their last game against Long Eaton United and currently sit top of the FAWNL Midland Reserve Division.
Andy Cook's View
“This will be a good game. We played Donny last season in a round of friendly fixtures. I expect them to be ready and the game to be a really good advertisement with both teams wanting to get the ball down and play. We have a good squad here and I’m looking forward to seeing the players this weekend. We trust each one of them to play and work well within the plans we have this season, they push each other on a daily basis and it’s a pleasure to work with this group every week.”
Forest have two former Doncaster Rovers Belles players in its ranks with Olivia Cook and Emily Batty having made regular starting 11 appearances for the Forest Women this season, we asked them their thoughts ahead of Sundays game:
Emily Batty's View
“The girls are looking forward and raring to go with the game on Sunday after having the Stoke fixture postponed. We have been putting the hard work in on the training pitch, and we hope to stamp our authority in the game and start well, hopefully putting in a good round performance to get the win and progress to the next round.”
Olivia Cook's View
“For us we have to take the win from last week and carry that momentum forward. We’re happy with the win but equally we don’t want to settle with that performance. The plate is a great chance for us to build momentum and get a run under our belts that we can feed off for the league too.
"Having played at Donny for a few seasons before coming to Forest, as has Em Batty, it is always an important game for me. It is nice to come back to the same ground and same faces where I gained my first open age experience. Sadly, it will be the first time returning since Chippy’s passing, she was such a a legend at the club and an incredible role model for myself, Em, and many other young players. so Sunday’s game will be particularly special for the two of us.”
You can find all the build up to the game, team news and match updates by following @NFFCWomen on Twitter.
Forest Women are back at home on Sunday 14th November when they welcome Lichfield City to Eastwood in the First Round Proper of the Vitality FA Women’s Cup with a 2pm KO, tickets are available online here.