‘We’ve got to be brave’ – Sunderland to give it a real go against Manchester United says Reay | OneFootball

Sunderland manager Mel Reay says that her side need to be brave as they look to cause a major upset in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.

The Lady Black Cats travel to the Leigh Sports Village to face top tier Manchester United in the quarter-finals on Saturday evening.

Sunderland go into the match as huge underdogs but manager Reay has called on her side to be brave as they look to give a good account of themselves.

“We’ve got to be brave, we’ve got to go and have a go,” Reay said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “We don’t want to go and sit behind the ball for 90 minutes, we want to test ourselves against some of the best players. Yes, we will have a structure out of possession but when in-possession, we want to try and cause some damage.”

Sunderland may be underdogs but Reay says that her squad has plenty of experience to deal with the big occasion.

She said “Given the level of experience that we have in the squad, they’ll all have experiences that they can draw on playing against higher opposition. We will certainly be utilising that to prepare.

“Manchester United are one of the best teams in the Women’s Super League. They’ve had a fantastic season; Marc [Skinner] is doing an incredible job there along with his assistant Charlotte [Healy].

“We are looking forward to the challenge, it is something different to focus on this week. We are going to go there and try to win the game.”

Sunderland’s quarter-final tie has paired them with last season’s winners and Reay says that it is exciting for her players to have the opportunity to test themselves against the best.

She said “It’s great to be playing the holders. They’ve got some really good individual players that our players can go up against; they’re some of the best players in the world.

“It’s exciting, there’s a different feel this week going into the sessions because you’re going into something different. We will prepare as we always do and give it a good go.”

Sunderland’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup quarter-final tie at Manchester United kicks-off at 5.15pm on Saturday evening.