No media conference from Elena Sadiku this week, which is pretty disappointing, as there was plenty of things to talk to the Celtic FC Manager about. Instead Elena had to make do with a few minutes talking to Celtic TV yesterday afternoon after training.
Petershill Park
It’s a huge game on Sunday as Celtic make the short journey to Petershill Park to take on current Champions Glasgow City. Both sides are level on points with both a single point behind theRangers Women. This is a tight little pitch that is open to the element more than most and Celtic have often struggled to cope playing on it.
City have dragged themselves right back into the mix and will be looking for another home win over Celtic to give them an advantage over Elena Sadiku’s side. A draw would be a decent result for theRangers Women.
Goal Machine Tash Flint
It would also have been good to hear Elena’s thought on the two games moving to Celtic Park and if the prospect of these being highly significant in the title run in, gives more motivation to win at Glasgow City on Sunday afternoon.
Elena spoke about the break coming after the last game where Celtic dragged theRangers Women back into the pack and blew open the title race with that impressive victory with the two Celtic goals coming from the Goal Machine Tash Flint.
Keeping the standards high
“Sometimes you just don’t like having those breaks, because we want to keep going with the momentum we have been having. But I think the girls have been brilliant in the way they have come back to training and keeping the standards high,” Elena told Celtic TV.
“They know that every game is a match that is very important. This week so far has been really good. So we’re just going to keep building on that.
“I think it’s also been good for the players to be off for a few days to recharge and get some more energy back. That is something that you need to balance as a coach, in order to have both sides, like working hard but also being able to switch off from football.”
The squad is looking amazing
On training this week, the Swedish head coach could have no complaints watching her squad prepare for the Glasgow City match.
“The squad is looking amazing,” Elena said. “I think everybody is back in the squad. Obviously we have Hana (Kerner) and Luana who are injured, but they are on their way back.
“But we actually have a good surprise in that Lisa Robertson is back on the pitch and she has been doing full training for two weeks now, entering the third week. So she has been doing amazing on the pitch and I think for me it will be like having a new player in the squad.
“I can’t even imagine that she has coming back from having a child. I can’t wait to have her back in the squad again,” Elena said.
“When it comes to entering the split, obviously this is my first time experiencing it, but we have some of the best and toughest games first, playing against (the)Rangers then Glasgow City.
“So the top three teams are facing off directly. But that is a challenge that we love to face, and that is something we want to face directly. We have started well, but we just want to keep going now starting with Sunday.”
Glasgow City v Celtic FC Women on Sunday 31 March at Petershill Park in the north of Glasgow. Kick-off is at 4.10pm and the match is live on BBC Alba. Digital tickets can be purchased directly from Glasgow City HERE.
