Derby County Women Preview: Stoke City (H)

Derby County Women will return to action on home turf on Wednesday evening at the Don Amott Arena when they host Stoke City (8pm kick-off).

dcfc.co.uk has brought together all the key information you will need to know ahead of the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division fixture.

Manager's Thoughts...

Manager Sam Griffiths wants her side to follow up their impressive 2-1 local derby victory at Nottingham Forest on Sunday with two more positive results this week when they host Stoke on Wednesday evening and then head to Huddersfield Town on Sunday.

After a mixed start to the season in terms of results, Griffiths is confident the victory over Forest is the perfect platform for the Ewes to kick on in the weeks ahead.

She said: “We’ve had an up-and-down start to the season and there have been games we’ve been disappointed with in terms of the levels we’ve got to.

“We’ve got this win here, a big one, and we need to push on. We’ve got Stoke on Wednesday and Huddersfield on Sunday and we need to go into each of them believing we can win.”

From The Dressing Room...

Captain Amy Sims has stressed the side can’t let the impressive away day victory at Nottingham Forest on Sunday go to waste moving forward.

Sims says the Ewes have the perfect platform to kick on after an inconsistent start to the 2023/24 season in the league.

Derby have the chance to rack up a healthy return of points in a short space of time this week with the back-to-back clashes with Stoke and Huddersfield.

Sims said: “I think this result has to push us on now. There’s no point coming to Forest and winning and then dropping points elsewhere.

“Stoke on Wednesday is a massive game, as is Huddersfield on Sunday as well. Momentum is massive in football and we’ve got to take all forward now. Hopefully the win on Sunday is a great starting point to keep building on.”

The Season So Far...

Derby County Women have two wins and three defeats to their name in the league so far this term. They started the season with a 2-1 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers, before bowing out of the League Cup at the Determining Round stage with a 4-2 loss on home turf against West Bromwich Albion.

A 3-2 loss at Liverpool Feds was then followed up with a 7-1 hammering of Stourbridge for their first away win of the season, prior to losing 1-0 to promotion favourites Newcastle United at the Don Amott Arena last time out on home turf in the league.

Derby will, however, head into the meeting wiht the Potters in good spirits following their 5-0 away win at Doncaster Rovers Belles in the First Round of the National League Plate earlier this month and the impressive 2-1 success at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.