'We're expecting to win' - Steve Kirby confident as Bristol City Women face Charlton Athletic

Steve Kirby is confident Bristol City Women will register back-to-back Championship wins when they take on Charlton Athletic.

The Robins make the trip to southeast London on Sunday and will be looking to build on their impressive win over Newcastle United last time out.

Speaking ahead of the match, City head coach Kirby declared that despite having high expectations, he’s very conscious of the threat that the Addicks can pose.

“They'll be a tough test,” he acknowledged. “Their movement and fluidity is good, but we think that we've done our work this week and are readily prepared for them.

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“We're expecting to win, but we're not expecting an easy game, for sure. We'll have to be at our best, and we'll really have to work for it and do more than them to win; it won’t be a given."

The Robins currently sit in fifth place in the Women’s Championship, while Charlton are sixth on the same record of 14 points. However, three points on Sunday could see either side climb to as high as second, depending on results elsewhere and Kirby admitted that he recognises just how good an opportunity this weekend could be for his side to progress up the table and put pressure on Birmingham City in top spot.

“It's a big game, a really, really big game," the Robins boss added. "Whoever wins will have a great opportunity to obviously progress depending on how other results go.

“They’re in and around us in the league table, and there will be a bit of pressure around that, but we’ll manage that accordingly and do our best to try and win.”

However, Bristol City will go into Sunday's game without two starters from last weekend’s 2-0 win over Newcastle, with Sille Struck facing a suspension following her late dismissal and Jesse Woolley being withdrawn early on with a hamstring problem.

While neither will feature this Sunday, the head coach gave a positive update on the status of the latter, stating: “It [the injury] is not as bad as we worried and initially thought.

“This game will come too quick for her, possibly the next one with the League Cup as well. But it's not as bad after the scans and everything as we first thought it might be.”

But despite the absences, the Robins are still well-placed to pick up a good result in the capital, and the City boss certainly isn’t making any excuses.

“We're looking forward to getting there, and it's great to know that we're going to have some travelling support as well,” he remarked.

“That'll be really important for us, and as I said before, it'll be a tough game, but one that we're expecting to go and win.”

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