Gareth Taylor insists Man City will not get complacent in WSL title push

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Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor insists his side are taking it one game at a time as they prepare their final title push with the visit of West Ham on Sunday.

City have been out of action since losing to Arsenal at the start of April and are looking to bounce back with a victory that could potentially see them move up to second in the WSL table temporarily.

The latest international break was followed by the FA Cup semi-finals that City were not involved in, but are still within a shout of claiming their first league title, sitting six points behind leaders Manchester United with a game in hand.

None of their title rivals are in action this weekend so it is an opportunity for City to put some points on the board, and Taylor believes his side are well rested, but knows there is no room for complacency.

He told a press conference: “We’re not getting too far ahead of us. Concentrate on West Ham before we move onto the next one.

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“There’s never any margin for error – You can’t be flawless the whole season but we are really looking forward to this last part of the season.

“We were disappointed not to be included in the FA Cup semi-finals – that gave us a bit more time. The international break was a nice period to be able to give, especially those on international duty, them a couple days to recover and rest up for the final push.

West Ham manager Paul Konchesky knows his team have to play their best game to get a result out of title-chasing City.

The Hammers are currently on a seven game winless run in the league, and have not tasted victory since last year.

He said: “We have to be on it and at it from minute one to when the full-time whistle sounds, if we do and we compete we can give them a good game.

“We’ve spoken as a group about being more consistent, more ruthless in both boxes. When we attack we need to take our chances, but we need to be ruthless in our own box when we’re defending.

“There are 15 points to play for and we need to pick up as many as we can.”

Leicester are out of action this weekend so Reading have a chance to put some breathing space between them and the relegation zone when they come up against Everton.

Royals boss Kelly Chambers has declared her side are ready to fight to stay in the league and said: “I have to give credit to the players, they’ve held up their hands, been accountable and they’ve shown me they want to fight.

The Toffees recent unbeaten run came to an end in midweek with a 3-2 loss to Brighton, despite Katja Snoeijs’ double and the goalscorer is looking for an immediate response.

She said: “It’s important for us now to focus on Reading. We will analyse what we must do better, but we need a stronger mentality.”

Tottenham interim head coach Vicky Jepson says her side need to be perfect in their upcoming games to avoid the WSL drop.

Spurs will have Aston Villa to contend with on Sunday, who went eight games unbeaten in all competitions before losing twice to Chelsea in the league and FA Cup.

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She said: “It’s not going to be easy. There’s no team that we come up against that will just gift us the points. We’ve got to earn them and that’s where we have to make sure that we’re not complacent in those moments.”

Liverpool are looking to continue their recent unbeaten streak while Brighton will want to claim three more points in their quest for WSL safety. Three points for the Seagulls will pull them further away from Leicester, who occupy the relegation place and could take them within a point of the Reds.

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