Derby County Women Preview: Wolves (H)

Derby County Women will get their 2023/24 season started on Sunday afternoon when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers Women at Mickleover FC's Don Amott Arena (3pm kick-off).

dcfc.co.uk has brought together all the key information you will need to know ahead of the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division fixture.

Manager's Thoughts...

Boss Sam Griffiths sat down with RamsTV in the lead-up to Sunday’s game to give her assessment of pre-season and discuss the side's targets for the 2023/24 campaign.

She said: “We’re feeling good. We’ve built on last year and it was important that we kept the majority of the squad, which we have done, and we’ve got some great foundations to build on. We’ve added five players too and they’ve settled in well and I’m looking forward to seeing them grow into the group.

“I feel like we’re in a really good place at the minute. We’re up against some teams with full-time players and staff but is it impossible to crack the top three? No. We have to work really hard as a staff and that I think is what you get with us as players and a coaching staff, we’ll put the hours in to make sure we compete with those at the top.”

She added: “We want to finish as high as we can this year. We have our own targets and goals and we want to be a team that people know, if they aren’t at their best, they’ll be in trouble and dread to play against.”

From The Dressing Room...

Club Captain Hannah Ward spoke to RamsTV to discuss her appointment as a Club Ambassador earlier this week and she also offered her thoughts ahead of the upcoming season.

She said: “Pre-season can feel quite long at times, but I think everyone is just raring to go!

“We’ve got a young squad again, like we had last year, and we’ve kept the nucleus of the group together as well as adding some positive and quality additions too.

“We had a really good togetherness last year and I think that will benefit us going into this season. What we did last year on the pitch was a credit to the players and the coaching staff.”

She added: “It’s a strong league again this year but that just means we need to get stronger too and adapt. It’ll be interesting how things progress but obviously we have our own aims and want to do well.”

The Season Ahead...

Derby County Women are one of 12 teams in the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division for the 2023/24 season.

Top spot will secure promotion to the Championship, while the bottom two will be relegated to the First Division.

The teams in the league this season are: AFC Fylde, Burnley, Derby County, Halifax, Huddersfield Town, Liverpool Feds, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Stoke City, Stourbridge, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

There are a few storylines to the league including, despite winning the Northern Division last term, Nottingham Forest once again in the same league as the Rams after they lost the Championship play-off at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Newcastle United, who were promoted from Division One North as champions, and Stourbridge, the Division One Midlands champions, are the newcomers to the league while Boldmere St. Michaels and Loughborough Lightning were relegated last term. Finally, Brighouse Town have been rebranded as Halifax FC.

It all makes for what should be a competitive and exciting division for the season ahead.