White - We won’t underestimate Bristol

Ellen White knows that Bristol Academy will pose a stiff test for Arsenal Ladies in Sunday’s FA Women’s Cup final at the Keepmoat Stadium.

The teams met in the 2011 final, when Kim Little and Julie Fleeting scored to seal Arsenal’s 11th cup triumph.

Mark Sampson’s side have started the season strongly and, buoyed by Spaniards Natalia Pablos and Laura Del Rio, knocked out Lincoln and Everton on their way to reaching the final.

“Their two Spanish strikers are in great form at the moment so we need to be wary of them,” White told Arsenal Player. “They've had two or three years together as a squad to develop and that shows in what they've done in the league so far this season.

“We can't underestimate them. They've got a great squad and they've got a good understanding of each other. We need to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are but ultimately we need to concentrate on what we can do on the day and focus on ourselves as much as them.

“We've done our preparation for it and hopefully we can put it right on the pitch and do well.”

While Shelley Kerr’s side have progressed seamlessly to the cup final, they are without a win in their first two league games of the season.

Some critics have questioned whether the Ladies’ domestic dominance will continue, but White says the team are keen to prove their doubters wrong.

“People always want to beat us, that's a fact,” she said. “We've won so many trophies and games and we've got some amazing players.

“People are always going to raise their game and treat playing Arsenal as a cup final. We know that everyone wants to beat us and the fact that we've lost against Liverpool and drawn against Lincoln and some of the results haven't gone our way this season [mean] that people are automatically going to assume that we are more beatable this season.

“In our squad we're absolutely buzzing about the FA Cup final. We're so collective as a team that we're not going to listen about what anyone says. We're going to focus on what we do. We've got a fantastic squad and these games are only going to make us stronger. We've just got to put that to bed and win!”