3/1 To Win
Derby County Women's Manager Samantha Griffiths believes her team go into Sunday's East Midlands derby against Nottingham Forest Women with no pressure on them.
The Ewe Rams take on Forest Women at Pride Park Stadium (2pm kick-off) and are looking to get one over on their rivals after falling to a 3-1 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier this season at the City Ground.
Griffiths spoke to RamsTV ahead of Sunday to preview the big game.
On how the team are feeling going into Sunday...
I think we go into Sunday under no pressure and that's probably the biggest thing for us. We've probably achieved what we needed to achieve this year, already. At the start of the season there was no hiding that it was to avoid relegation, we knew it was going to be a tough season and the girls have done an unbelievable job to be where we are in the league. We knew post-Christmas that we had a run of games where we could really stretch ourselves and we have.
We knew last Sunday would be a tough game against Burnley which it was (Derby lost 4-1) and we were well below par. I believe the defeat against Burnley may give them a bit of a kick that they need and a bit of a realisation coming off the back of six wins in a row.
I don't think the players will need any motivation to go into the game on Sunday. It's a massive game against Forest and they are top of the league. They will obviously be the favourites going into this, so we need to make sure that we go out there, enjoy it and leave everything on the pitch.
On how difficult it was to put a team together in the summer after losing a number of players...
It wasn't easy. I think what made my job easier was that the group were prepared to listen, work hard, get their heads down and for me that's why they've had such a successful season to date. It probably took us a bit of time, a bit of time to try and embed the principles that we were trying to do and that's probably why we have managed to get on a bit of a run post-Christmas.
Credit to the players, they have really come together and they are a credit for sticking with the club. It would have been very easy for some of these to leave at the end of the season. When we came back for this season, I knew this group would be a pretty special group. Every time they play, they play for the badge and want to be at the club.
On wanting success on Sunday for this group...
I think they deserve it. We always talk about playing the game and not the occasion. We can't get away from the fact that it is Forest but I think for them to go and win at Pride Park would probably top our season off with how well they have done.
On what will be said to the girls before kick-off...
They get the vibe from their own team-mates anyway. The ones that are Derby girls anyway and the ones that have played in these fixtures before know how big it is and sometimes how emotional it can get. It's a case of just enjoying it for some of the youngsters that have never played inside of a stadium before - it will be a great experience for them. They will want to go out there and do themselves proud and do the club proud, which hopefully they will.
On the latest squad news..
We've had a few niggles over the past few weeks but we're back up to full strength. Everyone wants to be fit for this one, surprisingly we have no niggles for this weekend!
