By Connor Armstrong
Casey Stoney is looking for Arsenal to pick up from where they left off when they return to Women’s Super League action against Notts County this weekend.
The Gunners are back in WSL competition after a three-week break, which came off the back of a dramatic 3-2 win against the Lady Pies in a Continental Cup quarter-final.
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Kelly Smith entered stage-right to play the role of super sub that evening to make it three wins from three against Rick Passmoor’s side this season, and Stoney is determined to maintain the 100 per cent record on Sunday.
“It’s never an easy game against Notts County,” she told Arsenal.com. “They’re a tough team and a dogged team and they’re good at set-pieces.
“We weren’t really at the races in terms of our tempo and pace of play [last time out], but saying that, to win when you’re not playing very well is pleasing.
“Back-to-back losses would’ve been really, really bad for us in terms of confidence and our mentality. To go out there and turn it around after being 2-1 down, to win off the back of a disappointing defeat against Liverpool, it was a huge win for us.”
Following that victory, Pedro Martinez Losa granted his side a period of leave, with several members of the side called up for international duty.
“The manager said ‘go away and have some time off’ - I think there’s been some fatigued players out there because straight away, coming back after six weeks we had three games in a week and it’s been quite demanding,” Stoney added.
"This will be the fourth time we’ve played them this season, and we’ve won three, so we need to make it four out of four."
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Casey Stoney
“We had the cup final as well so he said to go away on holiday but to keep ourselves in shape and then we’ll come back in and have a week’s preparation for the Notts County game."
The England defender herself has just returned from a week-long training camp with England, and feels that Losa’s side can harness a mental advantage after the finale of the last meeting between the two sides.
“To score late on like we did had to be disappointing for them. I thought they played really well and gave us a better game. We went behind which wasn’t ideal, but Kelly came on and showed she’s still absolutely world class,” she said.
“This will be the fourth time we’ve played them this season, and we’ve won three, so we need to make it four out of four.”
To follow live updates from Sunday’s match, follow @ArsenalLadies on Twitter and follow along with the #ALFC hashtag.
Coverage will start from 4.55pm with kick-off at 5pm (UK time).
Casey Stoney in action against Jess Clarke of Notts County
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