MATCH PREVIEW: Chester FC Women v Bury AFC Women

Chester FC Women return to league action this weekend following a two week absence, as they face third-placed Bury AFC Women at Helsby Sports Club.

The Seals have endured back-to-back defeats in their previous two games having exited both the Argyle Plate Cup and The Cheshire County Cup in recent weeks. However Chester come into this weekend’s game against highflyers Bury having won their previous three league games in a row and with an impressive 19 goals scored in the process.

Prior to the previous two weeks Chester had won their last six games in a row in all competitions, Seals manager Martin Fitzsimons’ will be hoping his side can get back to winning ways this weekend and carry on the teams confidence ahead of a challenging encounter with Bury on Sunday. Ahead of this weekend’s encounter Chester find themselves in 4th place in the league table one place behind Sunday’s opponents but trailing them by 15 points having played three games less so far this season.

Sunday’s visitors Bury AFC Women come into this weekend’s game having had a fantastic league campaign to date so far, the side have won 11 of their 13 games this season in the league having suffered only one defeat. That defeat came last month against Runcorn Linnets, a defeat that saw Runcorn leapfrog Bury in the league table and currently hold a 6 point at the summit having played two games more.The two sides have already met once this season so far with the game ending 1-1, a game that Chester where very unfortunate to come away with only one point on the day.

STAT ATTACK:

• Molly Wood grabbed Chester’s goal when the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in late August.
• The Seals have only failed to score in one game in all competitions this season, that coming last weekend against Stockport.
• Bury AFC Women have won all of their five away games in the league so far this season

FORM GUIDE (Most Recent First):

Chester FC Women : LLWWW

Bury AFC Women : LWWLW

Manager's Thoughts:

“Sunday is back to league action for us. We go into it off the back of two very positive performances. Last Sunday, although we lost, we felt from a defensive point of view we stood up to the test and did well to limit their chances. Tranmere, we went out and expressed ourselves and looked dangerous at times and in 90 minutes, we felt the game could have gone our way. So we couldn’t be happier going into this game solely looking at the level of performance.

“That said, this is a different game that will pose different challenges that will need to be respected by us and we’ll need to have the answers. Last time we played, we were unfortunate to only come away with a draw. The players are in a good place, they are positive and ready for the next challenges that come our way. We have two tough games back-to-back, Bury this week and Runcorn next week. We’ll be going out to win them, there’s no question about that, and we’ll see where we up to after those two games. We focus on ourselves and I’m confident we’ll come out with positive results.”