Preview | Milton Keynes Dons Women (H)
After a long winter break, due to postponements and forced time off, Argyle Women return to Home Park to face Milton Keynes Dons in FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division action.
The clash on Sunday, 5 January, which kicks off at 2pm, will be the Greens' first action of the New Year. Argyle concluded 2024 with a superb 1-0 win over Watford in the FAWNL Cup, to reach the competition’s semi-final.
Assistant coach Jon Dawe believes that the squad's individual work during their time off, and as a group upon their return, is a strong indicator of how a positive result can be gained on the weekend.
“I’m excited to get back into it,” Dawe told Argyle TV. “Obviously, we've had quite a prolonged period off because of the winter break involved in the women's game, so it’s nice to be back at it and we’re looking forward to the game on Sunday.
“We probably didn't want the break to come, if I'm honest, after such a positive win against Watford in the quarter-final. It's a shame we couldn't continue the momentum, but it is what it is.
“The girls have been set a fitness programme over the winter break where they've been doing a series of set runs and we’ve been back in training this week so they will have plenty of football-related practice before Sunday, and we’ll go over the key messages from the Watford game.
“Ahead of the game, the squad needs to recap the things that we did really well against Watford. For me, it was our best out-of-possession performance of the season against a strong side. I think it's vitally important that we continue in that same vein and go with a clean sheet mentality for the weekend, and then if we can achieve that, I'm sure what we can do with the ball can hurt MK Dons.”
The Buckinghamshire side sit below Argyle in the league table this season, picking up just one point through their opening 13 games. Dawe is aware of the expectations for the game at the Theatre of Greens but also knows that Argyle must stay grounded and not get ahead of themselves to achieve a result.
He said: “Ultimately, we need to respect any opponent that we come up against. We've analysed their last three matches and within those, there's certainly a counter-attacking threat which we need to be wary of.
“There’s no room for complacency whatsoever, and we've just got to approach it with the same determination as we did against Watford.”