By OkayGoal
Charlton Athletic head coach Karen Hills believes that positive results will come for her side if they continue to learn.
The Addicks have started their first season in the Barclays Women’s Super League with five consecutive defeats. They play host to Manchester United in their next fixture on Sunday.
When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Charlton Athletic boss Hills admitted that there is some pressure to get points, but believes that her side are moving in a positive direction.
“Of course, you’re striving to get points on the board,” Hills said. “It’s a very tough league, but we knew this and we have to keep believing that if the performances are where they need to be, the results will hopefully take care of themselves.
“It’s a waiting and a patience game and I’m okay with that. I’ve seen so much development in these players, I’m seeing them really learn so much about themselves and each other. Their togetherness, even when we are coming up against hard times, shows a lot of spirit and character.
“I really believe that if we stick at it until the end, keep putting the work in, eventually, you’d hope that something will land.
“As a manager, I have the full backing of the staff and the ownership. We are all in this together. It’s going to be a hard task, but we are all pushing in the right direction and I believe that we will come out of it with some positive results.”
Hills went on to discuss the targets for the next nine-game block. She said that the emphasis is on improvement from the first block.
She said “I want us to be in a place where we know block two has been better than block one. We do a lot of deep-diving around data and where we are. At this moment in time, the statistics and data show that we are not where we want to be, we are sitting bottom of pretty much every metric.
“The only way is going to be up, so in block two, we need to improve this data. We need to have more shots on target, we need to be a bit more resilient in our defensive half, we need to create a few more opportunities, we need to create a few more set-piece moments. If those metrics start going up, I’m positive that we will be in a better place come the next international window.”
This weekend’s opponents Manchester United present another tough challenge, but Hills says that it’s one that her side are relishing.
She said “Manchester United have gone through a transition period. There’s a new manager come in and I think the first block [of matches] was difficult for her, but you can see from the results at the back end that she’s starting to find her feet and build a team that suits her philosophy.
“She’s got some fantastic players in her squad, some big names, their players are very experienced. Manchester United is a big name in the women’s game.
“We are super-excited to work with them. We know it’s going to be another tough game, but the players are relishing this opportunity again to play another big club.”
Charlton Athletic’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Manchester United takes place at The Valley at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets are available and can be purchased by clicking here.
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