LADIES: FA Cup Trip to Saints

Plymouth Argyle Women finally return to competitive action on Sunday and it is a massive fixture to get the ball rolling again.

The Pilgrims travel to Southampton Women in the FA Cup, taking on a side that was top of the division below Argyle before the season was cancelled.  

 
While the challenge is a big one for the Greens, the excitement to get back playing and test our progress in such a prestigious competition has made it a very happy week on the training pitch.  

“Southampton are a good side,” said manager Ryan Perks. “They are in the league below but hadn’t lost a game over the past two seasons before Covid ended both those campaigns.  

“Ability-wise, they probably should be in our division and we expect them to play the ball out from the back. They’ve got a clinical goalscorer up front, so we will need to watch out for her threat.  

“From our perspective, we train twice this week and the players are looking generally good in terms of fitness. Beth Ireland and Panagiota Papaioannou have both been struggling with minor injuries but we have fingers crossed that they will be ok.  

“We are all hugely excited to get back playing. We can’t wait to get the girls out on the grass because we felt like our project was beginning to take shape before the lockdown ended all football at our level.  

“The players are desperate to play again and the FA Cup is a fantastic way to get started.  

“If we can manage a win at Southampton, we will play either Keynsham Town or Yeovil in the next round, and then it would be Lewes FC, who are in the Championship, in the fourth round.  

“Our first step is Southampton and it will give us a very good indication of where we are as a team.”