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Match Preview | Rangers Women v Aberdeen Women

16 December 2022
Author AFC Media Team

Aberdeen Women play their final game of 2022 this Sunday when they travel to take on Rangers at Broadwood Stadium.

The Dons head into the game unbeaten in their previous two matches, beating Dundee United and drawing with Spartans. Victory for Aberdeen could see them climb up to ninth in the table. Sunday’s game will be shown live on the BBC Sport Scotland website.

Interim Head Coach Gavin Levey previewed the game:

“It’s a chance for us to close out the year with a good performance against one of the top sides in the country. The weather hasn’t been great and credit to the girls, they’ve made every effort to get to training as much as they can. We’ve thankfully been able to train indoors at Aberdeen Sports Village on a couple of nights this week which has made a huge difference. We’ve needed to make sure the players aren’t taking too many chances to get here in the conditions but they’ve done really well.

“The mood in the camp is very good and hopefully we can carry that into Sunday. It would have been ideal having the two weeks in between games to work with the players but with the weather cancellations last week it has really challenged us. The girls have been excellent to work with though and the staff that have been working with them in this interim set up have really loved it.

“The depth of squad that Rangers have is there to be admired and they have got some very good individual players. We need to make sure that we can combat whoever plays or comes on for them in the game. We can’t give them too much respect either, we’ve got to go out and do the best we can to win our individual battles on the pitch and match that tactically as well. I’ve seen this Aberdeen team go in and put on good performances against the so-called top three in the past so I’m expecting us to go in and give them the best we’ve got.

“You hear ahead of games like this that it’s going to be an uphill task but we need to change that mindset. We’ve got a good squad with good young players and they can’t forget that. I’ve never gone into a game as a coach accepting that we’re going to get beat. You need to go into the game with the view that you want to test yourself against the best teams.”

Striker Hannah Stewart also previewed the final match of 2022:

“It’s an opportunity for us to build on a good performance and decent result against Spartans. It was a performance that we were happy with and we’ve been trying to keep that going in the build up to Rangers. It’s going to be a tough game but we’ve worked hard this week to go into the game prepared and hopefully end the year on a high.

“It’s been a bit of a nightmare for preparing for the game with all the snow and frost. We’ve trained as much as we’ve been able to and have tried not to let it impact too much on our preparations. It’s been ideal to get into the Sports Village and to train indoors, even if it is still baltic in there! It’s a good facility and has allowed us to prepare well this week.

“Rangers have a good squad and although they’ve taken in a lot of professional players, they also have a lot of players that we’ve all played against before over the years. We know what they can bring and we’ve played them a lot so we’re going in knowing it’s a hard game but confident in our own abilities. We’re the underdogs and sometimes that’s the best place to be as nobody on the outside is looking at us going there expecting us to get something from the game. We just need to concentrate on ourselves and try to finish the year on a high with a good performance.”

Match: Rangers Women v Aberdeen Women
Location: Broadwood Stadium
Competition: SWPL1
Kick-Off: 1pm
TV Coverage: Live on BBC Sport Scotland website

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