Sam Griffiths says her Derby County Women players are ‘ready to go’ ahead of their 2024/25 curtain-raiser at Sporting Khalsa on Sunday afternoon (2pm kick-off).
The Ewes’ 2024/25 FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division campaign will get under way on the road against one of the league’s newly promoted outfits.
Griffiths’ side, who finished seventh last term and won the Women’s FA National League Plate, reported back for pre-season training in early July and took in a long but beneficial pre-season programme.
The Ewes played out friendly matches against Peterborough United, Doncaster Rovers Belles and Middlesborough in July, while their two final friendlies ahead of the start of the season took place earlier this month against Hashtag United and Boldmere St. Michaels.
“I think we’re feeling good after a long and exciting pre-season which saw us bring in a number of new faces; we’re ready to go,” Griffiths told RamsTV.
“Pre-season was good, but tough. We had a few players away at the start of July and some of the new signings came in a bit late, while we’ve also had a few niggles too.
“Although it was a longer pre-season that I would have liked, I think we’ve timed it well to go into the start of the campaign. We’re excited to get going.”
Despite putting some silverware in the trophy cabinet, Griffiths pulled no punches in her assessment of the 2023/24 season by admitting she was disappointed.
The Ewes had been competing at the top end of the table the previous year and Griffiths was left frustrated with a lack of consistency in the league.
With a new season brings a fresh approach and new hope and she is confident the side can rise to the challenge this time around.
“We need to put some wrongs right from last year,” she explained. “As staff, we’ve reflected and reviewed where maybe we can hold our hands up and say we didn’t get things right.
“We have looked at how we can adapt to get the best out of the players we’ve got.
“That is about playing to the strengths of the players we have rather than necessarily how we want to play.”
Griffiths has added seven new players to the squad, as well as retaining the bulk of last season’s players.
Goalkeeper Lucy Jones, defender Daisy Burt, midfielders Bethan McGowan, Paris Dalton and Lara Miller and attackers Kate Oakley and Chene Muir are the seven new additions so far.
The versatile Becky McGrother is edging closer to her return after a year out with a knee injury, leaving left-back Megan Tinsley as the only long-term absentee with an ankle injury sustained in January of this year.
Assessing the group at her disposal this term, Griffiths believes she has a good mix and after recruiting players with a point to prove, alongside those who were with the Ewes last season, she is in a positive frame of mind.
With more options to call upon, the Derby boss has stressed the importance of everyone in the group having a part to play over the course of a long season.
She said: “We looked at the squad and what we needed to add from last season as it wasn’t our strongest year.
“We were conscious as a group of staff about the players we wanted to bring in and we’ve added some young, exciting and hungry individuals to the squad.
“They will fit into the environment and we’ve got some players with a point to prove, too. We’ve also kept the core of the squad and that was important. We’ve seen a few depart but with who we’ve retained and brought in, we’re in a good place.”
She added: “We’ve got a bigger squad this year, which means it will be a bit harder to manage and we need everyone to buy into being part of the group. Everyone has a role to play, whether they start, are on the bench or not in the squad.”
