PreviewGemma Bonner: We've shown our ambition and what we want to achieve
Gemma Bonner believes Liverpool FC Women's win on the opening weekend was a marker for the team's intentions this season.
The Reds began 2023-24 with a controlled and battling 1-0 victory at Arsenal Women in front of 54,115 spectators at Emirates Stadium.
They now look to build on that positive start on Sunday evening when Aston Villa Women visit Prenton Park for the second round of fixtures in the Barclays Women's Super League.
Previewing that encounter, Bonner told Liverpoolfc.com at the AXA Melwood Training Centre: "We're enjoying training, we're working hard. I think that's probably the beauty of this group – that we want to come in, we want to work hard and we don't shy away from any challenges.
"I think you couldn't have come up against a bigger challenge [in the] first game of the season, and I think we really passed with that.
"But I think for us as a squad we've shown our ambition and what we want to achieve this season. We want to improve on last year and I think we've put a good first foot forward [in] getting the result.
"But for us now, back at home, the pressure's now got to be to consistently perform with that."
You have to accept cookies in order to view this content on our site.
Watch on YouTubeVilla arrive into the clash looking to respond to their 2-1 defeat at home by Manchester United Women last Sunday.
LFC Women played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with Carla Ward's side at Villa Park in their penultimate fixture last season, having suffered a 1-0 loss in the reverse meeting last November.
"We had some great battles against them last year," Bonner continued. "I think Carla Ward has done tremendously well to build their team and they've really added quality over the past six to 12 months in their team. They've got a lot of young and experienced players, which I think blend together really good.
"We sure expect a tough game on Sunday, obviously they've got Rachel Daly up top who's a huge threat for them.
"But I think for us we've got to continue on, build on what we did last week, we were so strong defensively. We've got a strong foundation to build from but we definitely have to make sure that we build on that on Sunday."
After enjoying memorable celebrations in front of the away end at Arsenal, Bonner and the rest of the squad can't wait to return to Prenton Park and make the most of the home-crowd advantage.
The centre-half finished: "It's been a long off-season. I think we've really missed playing in front of our home fans.
"Obviously we got a taster when we played away and how much support we had that travelled. It'd be great to see as many as we can come out on Sunday and support us."
This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.