Argyle Women will play their final game of 2025 on Sunday afternoon, hosting Real Bedford at Home Park.
The match was originally scheduled for late November, but it was postponed due to Phoebie Poole, Olivia Francis and Tianna Teisar being called up for duty with the Wales national team.
Curiously enough, team news for Sunday’s game is rather dominated by two of the aforementioned trio.
Poole will miss the game, serving the third game of a three-match suspension. It looked like she might be joined by Francis, who was harshly sent off in Argyle’s 2-1 defeat at Oxford last weekend, where the Pilgrims exited the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
However, Francis has rightly been given a reprieve, with her ban rescinded, making her available for the Bedford clash.
A win over the Pirates, with Watford and AFC Bournemouth also facing off on Sunday, means Argyle have the incentive of heading into a short Christmas and New Year break in the top two.
“We're ready and prepared,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “It’s a rearranged game for a start, but I think off the back of last weekend, we just really want to get back out on the pitch again - especially at Home Park. As players and staff, we are really looking forward to this weekend. We're prepared and in a good place.
“We were all disappointed at the end of the Oxford game. We were disappointed with the manner in which it finished, conceding two late goals. I think there were challenges within the game, which we spoke about at the time, but we need to remember that this is football.
“There are going to be bumps in the road. There are going to be defeats, and we've got to take lessons from that. The most important thing is the response and the reply, which I think has been very good going into this week. The mentality and appetite going into this weekend, especially with how close we are to Christmas, has been good, and I think the players want to get out there this weekend in front of our own supporters.
“Bedford are in a good run of form. They’ve hit the ground running and are a very attack-minded team, so it should be a really exciting game. You can see from their results that they've got a very vibrant frontline and have good structure in how they play. We'll do our due diligence on the opposition and make sure that our preparation is right.
“As I said, the important thing for us this weekend is a response, and the appetite of the players has been excellent in training this week.
“We’ve got a full bill of health on that front. Phoebie [Poole] is still suspended, but the rest of the squad is ready for this weekend, and we need to respond.
“The disappointment from last weekend has almost galvanised us as a group, because you never want to experience situations like that. It has just refocused minds. We've put ourselves in a really good position, are chasing the top two, and are playing a team that's directly below us.
“This is a big game and an opportunity for us to make a step forward, but we know to do that, then we have to do the minimum that's required to go out with the right mindset and attitudes to really impose ourselves on the game.”
