Manchester United Women head coach Casey Stoney will not throw money at her squad in an attempt to make them an instant hit in the women’s game even though there is now huge expectation on them.

The former England international admits they cannot compete with some of the huge salaries being paid to players on the continent – she lost captain Alex Greenwood to European champions Lyon this summer – but it is also a matter of principle for the 37-year-old.

United make their debut in the FA Women’s Super League on Saturday when they face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in front of an expected 20,000-plus crowd.

It is another step up for a club which was only formed just over a year ago and Stoney wants to build something for the long term.

“Are we in a place where we can compete with Lyon financially? No, because we are in year two,” she said.

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“Do I think we should be? No, because the women’s game is not there yet.

“The women’s game is not in a place where we should be paying those sorts of figures for players until we start getting more people in the ground.

“We want to do it the right way and we want people to be here for the right reasons.

“If I throw money at it I get a player who comes over for two years, takes the money and then disappears.

“Yes, there are times when you want to sprinkle a bit of stardust on the team but that has to be invested.

“It is more about a long-term project here: people who are invested in the club and where we want to go.”

Where they want to go is top of the FA WSL and into Europe but Stoney is well aware of the challenge they face as they take the next step, having dropped just five points and conceded only seven goals in winning the FA Women’s Championship.

Because of their name United are a huge draw, with an average attendance of over 2,000 last season, and they will be immediately expected to compete for honours in the top flight.

“I think we have the opportunity to change the face of women’s football because of the global reach the club has and the fan base, which is bigger than I anticipated,” added Stoney.

“If we can get it right we set the standards that way. Because of the scale of the club we have a huge responsibility to help that and try to promote it.

“It is my job to balance that with the players because it is really unfair to put that expectation and pressure on a group of young players.

“Let’s not forget we started 14 months ago with four weeks to build an entire squad and staff.

“We’ve just been promoted and all of a sudden there is an expectation to do things we might not be ready to do yet.

“They (the players) will have to understand it is not going to be like last year. Last year was probably too easy at times, I don’t mean that disrespectfully but we were a full-time team. We weren’t very well liked.”