Karleigh Osborne: Bees ready for Fulham battle | OneFootball

Brentford Women head coach Karleigh Osborne says his side needs to be “ready for a battle” when they face Fulham in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

The Bees have enjoyed their longest run in the competition - Sunday’s west London derby at Bedfont Sports Club another highlight of a magical run.

“The girls have to be ready for a battle, because that’s ultimately what it’s going to be, Fulham aren’t going to come here and just roll over and we want to challenge them in every way we can,” said Osborne.

Following a first-round exit against Southampton Women in last season’s FA Cup, Brentford have channelled that disappointment into an historical run this campaign.

While pleased with his side’s wins over Ascot United and London Seaward in this season’s first and second rounds respectively, Osborne believes the team has enough quality to go further.

“The run has been fantastic, I think firstly it shows our intent and what we want to do as a club. I think it also shows the quality of our squad and the players that we have,” he explained.

“We’re excited, these are the types of games you want to be involved in, these are the types of games that we’ve been trying to prepare our players for over a number of years.

“Now this is a stage for them to go and showcase how good they are. It won’t be easy, Fulham are a really good team, it’ll be a tough challenge, but I believe if we perform at the levels that we can, we give ourselves a really good chance of getting a result.”

The Cottagers compete one tier above the Bees in the LSE Premier Division, the side unbeaten through seven league games this season with six wins.

Osborne said the fact the game is a west London derby will add some fuel to the fire.

“What I know is they’re a good team, they try and play football, they try and do things the right way, they’ve got a good manager and a good system,” Osborne said of Fulham.

“I think they’re a physical team, they play some good football, they’re patient in their build-up, so I think our shape and our structure needs to be really good.

“They like to try and dominate possession, similar to us, which will be an interesting battle. I think there’s chinks in their armour that I think we can exploit.

“We’re just excited for the challenge and showing what we can do and how good we are. The fact it’s a west London derby, there’ll be lots of fans there, a little bit more fire to the fixture, I think that adds to the making of a good game.”

Tickets for Sunday’s fixture are free and are available here