Womens

Amy Woodruff: I am really motivated

Striker looks ahead to clash against the Tykes.

Amy Woodruff training 1

Leeds United Women return to FA WNL Division One North duties this weekend, as they welcome Yorkshire rivals Barnsley to the Bannister Prentice Stadium.

Simon Wood’s side go into the tie on a string of positive results in the league, looking to keep pace with early pace setters Middlesbrough in the battle for promotion.

Ahead of the fixture, striker Amy Woodruff is confident the Whites can pick up where they left off and take the bragging rights this Sunday.

“I think the three wins on the trot in the league give us a good momentum, but obviously we can’t forget that we have just had a couple of weeks off from the league,” the forward told leedsunited.com.

“We need to continue that momentum and come back motivated. We have had two good weeks in training and a local derby means it is a big game, but we are ready for it especially having had the time off.

“We have had plenty of time to reflect. Obviously, we are not dwelling too much on the FA Cup because the league is our priority.”

A return to league action will also see Woodruff get back on the pitch, after the missing the last few weeks with a slight injury.

Back in contention to feature, a fiery clash against her former club is something the ex-Barnsley striker can’t wait to be involved in.

“Obviously, a big local derby, I am ready more than ever for that,” she added. “I suppose the girls from Barnsley all know me really well so they will be trying to stop me, but I am really motivated at the minute.

“They have been getting some good results against teams that they have not played against before. And obviously everyone that plays against Leeds United wants to beat us. I think we are everyone’s biggest rival.

“But it is just extra motivation for us because pressure is a privilege. We need to stay composed, not let the occasion of it being a derby get to us, stay in control of the game and just stick it out with our game plan.

“We know we can play different formations as we need to. Tactically, we are very switched on. We look at clubs and how they are playing and analyse them.

“We had a lot of bad injuries quite early on in the season, but the girls have worked so hard to get back and hopefully now we can kick on from where we left off in this last league game and just continue building up the league, getting the points we need.

“Like Shauna [Legge] said in her last interview, anyone can beat anyone in this league and it is a really tough competition so we just need to remain focused, stick with what we do best and go out and get results.

“It is my son’s first birthday on Sunday, so there is noting motivating me more to score for him!”

Read our match preview HERE.

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