Cardiff City FC Women's manager Joel Hutton and midfielder Hannah Daley spoke to cardiffcityfc.co.uk following their 3-0 victory over Exeter City Ladies FC at Cardiff International Sports Campus.
“It was a good performance,” began Joel. “Normally we wouldn’t care about pre-season results but we’ve been on the wrong end of them in recent weeks. We’ve played well and not got anything out of the game.
“I said to the girls that we win the game and we did, keeping a clean sheet too which was important. We want to get the girls to the same level and they need as much exposure to game time as possible. Going into the Welsh Premier League we want the players to be at the level they should be.
“There’s one or two players that need a bit more match fitness. Danielle Broadhurst has just come back from her pregnancy and she played 70 minutes today. I think she’ll play a little bit more next week. Hannah Daley has been on holiday for a couple of weeks but she’s back now and needs as much game time as possible.
“We’ve got one more game next week against FC United of Manchester, to make sure the players are up to speed. It’ll be a tough test because they won the treble from their competitions last year.
“There’s no point in playing teams that we know we’re going to beat. We want a tough test. We’ve had some difficult matches in recent weeks and not got the win, but against Exeter we’ve had another tough test, scored three goals and kept a clean sheet. I’m happy with that.”
Daley completed her first game since recently returning from holiday. The 25-year-old expressed her delight with the victory and team preparations ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.
“I’m feeling tired but happy with the result,” Hannah added. “I thought the performance was really good and we all worked together as a team. Our fitness has definitely improved and I’m really happy with how everybody played.
“The team spirit is really high at the moment. We’re all really positive and everything seems to be moulding together nicely."
She concluded: “We’ve never played FC United of Manchester before. I know it’s going to be a big test next weekend and I’m really looking forward to it.”
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