David Parker insists Birmingham City Ladies remain a match for anyone - The Solihull Observer

David Parker insists Birmingham City Ladies remain a match for anyone

Solihull Editorial 8th Oct, 2015 Updated: 21st Oct, 2016   0

BIRMINGHAM City Ladies boss David Parker firmly believes his side can match anyone in the Women’s Super League as they go in search of their first piece of silverware since 2012.

The Blues head to North London for the second time in the space of seven days this Sunday to take on Arsenal in the semi-final of the FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup.

Three-time winners Arsenal beat holders Manchester City in the previous round while Parker’s side knocked out league winners Chelsea.

And although the Gunners got the better of the Blues last Sunday with just one goal seperating the two sides, Parker insists his side can cause another upset and book their place in the final on November 1.




“A lot of clubs have put a lot of investment into it but we’re not on that level,” said Parker.

“We’ve stayed where we are in terms of a budget and we’ve not really been able to kick on like other clubs have with their infastrucutre.


“But you always fight a little battle on the pitch and when we’re right we are a bloody good team still – a really good team.

“It doesn’t matter to us about having all the fancy things in the world. We just need good preparation time and contact with our players.”

Birmingham fought hard against Arsenal in their final league fixture with Pablos Sanchon grabbing the only goal of the game.

But Parker says there are plenty of positives to take from the defeat.

“I think looking at the game we just had a poor five minute spell. We started the second half a little bit sluggish and it cost us but it was a good performance apart from the first five minutes of the second half.

“Arsenal had a lot of possession but look at the chances we created. We created so many clear-cut opportunities and Sophie (Baggaley) has been tested once.

“We worked their goalkeeper on so many occasions and I think we were unlucky not to take an advantage in at half-time.

“But that’s football. You need to be a little bit more clinical but it was just the start of that second half – we really didn’t come out of the traps as well as we have done previous games.

“We threw bodies forward and were really positive to try and get that goal ans result but it’s just not fallen for us.

“We can take plenty of heart from this performance now moving into the semi-final.”

Looking back at the season Parker admits there has been many setbacks but he is proud of how they have come through.

He added: “In the first half of the year numerous things affected us. Injuries and suspensions played a huge role especially going forward with a lot of our front line out. But I think in this second half of the season we’ve seen the true Birmingham.

“I think we’ve always had the ‘underdog’ tag and I think in the second half of the season we’ve slowly got back into the team we know and back to our best.

“We’ve really been digging in. That’s what we need to focus on, our good qualities, nullifying the opposition and maximising our strengths because we’ve got a lot of them.”

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