Jenna Schillaci: Spurs Ladies full of confidence ahead of Aston Villa clash in Women’s Super League 2

Tottenham Hotspur Ladies captain Jenna Schillaci in action at Durham Women (pic: George Ledger Sports Photography). NO UNPAID USE. All Rights Reserved.Standard NUJ rates accepted - contactme@georgeledger.co.uk - 07712353721 - Credit Required - George Ledger

Opening day defeat at Durham has not knocked spirit of Tottenham Ladies with Karen Hills’ team expecting to bounce back at home

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Tottenham Hotspur Ladies captain Jenna Schillaci is adamant the Lilywhites belief remains strong despite their 2-1 defeat at Durham in their FA Women’s Super League 2 bow on Sunday.

Bianca Baptiste’s equaliser was sandwiched in between Beth Hepple’s opening strike and Nicki Gears’ fine finish with all three goals separated by a frantic four-minute spell at the end of the first half.

Nevertheless, Schillaci is eager to build on their good showing and believes lesson were learnt from the defeat, which Spurs will look to correct at home to Aston Villa on Sunday.

The captain said: “We’re really disappointed to come away with no points after putting in that performance.

“We feel really proud of ourselves, we held our own and I think for large periods, we were the team pushing.

“We just couldn’t take our chances, but I thought defensively we were spot on and they were just more clinical in front of goal.

“All of us know in this league it’s going to be those little details that are going to win the matches, but with it being our first in the Women’s Super League 2, we can hold our heads up high.”

She continued: “Coming up to the league, teams don’t know about us and I think we shocked Durham a bit.

“Our pace, high tempo and the chances we were creating made them change the way they set up after about 10 minutes, because I don’t think they could handle our front three. We know we can create the chances, it’s just putting them away which I’m sure will come.

“We’ve all got the belief and we have such quality players. We knew the best way to respond to going behind was to score and we did straight away from kick-off – which was massive. It just indicates the strength and the trust we have in each other.

“There weren’t really much more that we could improve on because we were playing so well. We just had to keep fighting – we kept the tempo so high.

“The throw-ins, the free-kicks, everything - the girls that came on did a good job, it was just the end product. We’re all gutted, but we know if we play like this week in, week out we will get the results.”

Karen Hills’ team will now look to bounce back when Aston Villa arrive at Cheshunt.

Schillaci hopes previous encounters with the Midlands team will help give Spurs the edge this weekend.

“I think we’ll play the same way we did against Durham, with the same mentality and I believe we’ll be a handful for them,” said the captain.

“We’ve played them before and the matches have been quite tight – as will every game in this league.

“We’ll go away and regroup and we’ll train hard and work on the few negatives that there were – and we’ll be ready for Sunday.”

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