Hearts Women manager Eva Olid says her side will need to be at their best if they want to take all three points against Dundee United on Sunday.
The Jambos make the trip to Foundation Park for the final round of league fixtures before the split and with an exciting Scottish Cup quarter-final on the horizon, Olid is looking for a positive result and performance to take into the final months of the season.
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website, Olid said:
“It’s the last game of the second round of fixtures. After that we have the Scottish Cup quarter-final and then the split, so this is a good game for us to keep our good form going into that.
“The international break came at a good time for us. We have a few players that are suffering with injury right now, so that is an extra week, where they can recover and get back in the best shape for the final fixtures.”
Despite having that exciting cup tie next weekend, Olid insists all the focus has been on Dundee United as the Jambos continue their fight for back-to-back fourth place finishes.
“We have not said anything about next weekend, as the players need to stay focused. We need to take it game by game, so we remain competitive and this weekend it’s a league game and it’s so important that we get three points.
“For the last two weeks now, the training has been really good. The players are working so hard and especially this week, I can see them so motivated to go and give their best performance on Sunday.”
It’s been a tough spell for the Tangerines, who have recently appointed Suzy Shepherd as their new manager and Olid is wary for the potential of a new manager bounce.
“I always think when a team has a new manager, the players are so motivated to prove they deserve a start, so it is like an extra bit of motivation for them.
“Having watched their last match against Aberdeen, it was so competitive. They were in it right till the last second and anything could’ve happened. It was a really good performance from them.
“The first match against them, we scored just on set plays. It was difficult because they are so well organised and on the counter attack they have some players that can hurt us, so we need to be at our best to get the three points.”
