Leeds United Women return to FA Women’s National League Division One North action on Sunday, hosting York City Ladies at Garforth.

The fixture marks the Whites’ first of 2026, as they look to build on a strong run to end last year.

Ahead of the game, midfielder Alice Hughes spoke about the challenge. She said: “We’re feeling good ahead of the game on Sunday, feeling excited. We have had our rest and we're ready to kick on with getting that momentum back into place that we had going into Christmas.

“It's really good to be back in amongst the squad, in amongst the girls. The vibe and the mood in camp is really positive and it's really, really good and buzzy. So, yeah, looking forward to it.”

On the last meeting in the FA WNL Cup: “I think there's always a little bit of a difference between League and Cup. We want to win every single game we play, regardless of whether it's a League or a Cup game, but we know where York are in terms of trying to stay in the League.

“We've got our own ambitions at our end of the table, so we try and win every single game, regardless of whether it's a League or Cup match.

“Yeah, can't wait to be back home, back in front of the fans. We’ve had a good rest over Christmas, but I think the energy and the mood amongst the camp is that we're ready to get back at it.

“Momentum in football is huge,” Hughes added. “I think it makes a massive difference, but we're sort of taking things a game at a time. We're not looking further than the week ahead.

“That's the focus in terms of us as girls and that's the focus in terms of analysis. So we're very much focused on taking it week by week. But yeah, it's important to sort of start off as we mean to go on. Three points is the aim on Sunday.”