Olivia Smart has discussed pre-season as Leeds United Women continue their preparations ahead of the season opener with Stockport County.

The Whites have a friendly on Thursday evening against Farsley Celtic, before taking on Doncaster Belles on Sunday in the Julie Chipchase memorial match.

After those two matches, the season will get underway the following weekend.

“We started pre-season early and we’ve hit the ground running really,” Smart explained.

“We’ve come in early to try get as fit as possible, obviously fitness doesn’t win you football matches but it definitely loses you them if you’re not fit.

“The training has been intense, and it’s been good to get all the girls together as the more we’re together the more it feels like we’re a family.

“Everyone is enjoying being together as a squad, a few of the new girls that have arrived have said they’ve never trained as intensely as we train.

“Obviously we were without football for quite a long time, so it’s been nice to get back playing.

“Playing football with these group of girls has been really nice, everyone is up for working hard, making each other better and we're all enjoying it.”



The benchmark has been set over pre-season, with a number of eye catching moments throughout.

Dan O’Hearne has spoken about consistency, with the manager stating recently that his side need to perform to the top level in both halves of the match, as they aim for a successful campaign.

Another element for the team will be the need for everyone to contribute towards goals and assists, from all areas of the pitch.

“This season we want to go at teams and play with a lot more intensity,” Smart stated, ahead of the big kick-off.

“Last season I did score a fair few goals from set pieces, I say I’m a defender who doesn’t like to defend, I like getting forward and attacking. If I can get in the box or have a chance to shoot then I will!

“In pre-season we’ve not talked about who we’re playing and we’ve just focused on taking each game as it comes.

“Sometimes the pressure of the word promotion doesn’t suit everyone, I don’t mind it but collectively as a group it can sometimes add pressure.

“This year we will take it game by game, take each game in our stride and hopefully score plenty of goals.

“Defensively if we are organised enough, teams will struggle to score goals against us.

“Let’s not talk about promotion but hopefully we’ll be talking about promotion at the end of the season. All the players are ready and raring to go!”