Maddy Murray | We know what we need to do

Swansea City Women midfielder Maddy Murray insists her side are ready to respond following last weekend’s defeat ahead of their return south Wales derby clash with Cardiff City.

The Swans suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to their rivals in the first south Wales derby of phase two in the Genero Adran Premier, but could take plenty of positives from a performance in which they dominated large spells of the contest.

Captain Jess Williams gave Swansea the lead after converting from close range following a Chloe Chivers free kick that struck the crossbar, and the hosts had further opportunities to extend their advantage.

However, a quickfire double from Cardiff forward Mikayla Cook turned the game on its head, and Murray’s side were unable to respond — a rarity for a team that had scored 40 goals in their previous seven matches heading into the fixture.

Murray said the mood in camp has remained positive this week and believes the team must now show the progress they have made heading into the final few league games, as well as a cup final against Sunday’s opponents.

“Training has been really good this week. The girls were obviously disappointed with the result on Sunday, but coming away with a loss wasn’t something we felt we deserved from the game," she said. 

"We’ve had a strong week and hopefully we can respond with a good result this weekend.

“We’ve progressed a lot and worked really hard since the last time we played Cardiff back in December. 

"I thought we executed the gameplan well last time, there were just a couple of moments where we switched off. If we can improve on that, we’ll be ready to go on Sunday.

“We didn’t finish in the top four last season, so to be sitting third now shows the hard work from the players, (head coach) Yzzy [Taylor} and the coaching staff to get us to this point. We want to give the best account of ourselves over these final few games."