Bonner: Let's give ourselves a fighting chance

The Women’s Super League season might have ended for another year, but we still have plenty to play for and we are desperate to end the campaign on a real high. These are massive cup games for us and we are determined to show what we are all about as a team. We are excited and really looking forward to playing Champions League football once again.

Our qualification for the Champions League was clinched last year, and this game has been a long time coming, but we can’t wait to get started once again and to test ourselves against some of the top teams in Europe. We have prepared well and made the trip to Italy on Tuesday afternoon so we could train on the pitch before this game. 
 
We know Brescia will be a big test for us and it will be tough. As we found out last year, playing against a European side is a different kettle of fish all together to our domestic games. Taking on an Italian side is not going to be easy, especially as they have a lot of players who play for their international team. We know we will have to be at our best and put in a good performance to get something out of the game in order to give ourselves a fighting chance in the second leg.

When we played Linkopings away from home last year we were probably a little bit naive and tried to attack too much, so we have learnt from that. We need to make sure we are hard to beat and not give anything away. Domestically we have conceded a lot of goals recently which we are disappointed with, so it is a big focus of ours to not concede so we have a good chance in the second leg, especially playing in front of our own fans at home.

 
It’s fantastic that both legs against Brescia will be live on LFCTV. It’s the first time ever the club channel will be showing a live women’s game. It’s brilliant for us having that support from the club and it gives us an extra incentive to try and put on a performance and get through this tie.
 
It was disappointing for us to end our Super League season with a 4-2 defeat at Bristol Academy on Sunday. We know ourselves that our performance at Bristol wasn’t acceptable. We’ve spoken about it and we now have a good opportunity in the next two weeks to do something exciting. We’ve got to put the league form behind us and we want to reward our supporters who have been brilliant all year. Once again they travelled to Bristol in their numbers and never stopped singing. I know a lot of them are travelling out to Italy so we need to put on a performance for them as well as ourselves and the manager.

 
One positive for us from Sunday’s game at Bristol was the return of goalkeeper Danielle Gibbons, who came in for the injured Libby Stout. Danielle had surgery in July on a benign brain tumour, and she deserves incredible credit for returning to action so soon. It has been truly inspirational seeing Danielle back after what she has been through. Her return was probably sooner than expected due to Libby’s injury, so for her to play 90 minutes and make some great saves during the game will have given her confidence.

When we return from Italy our preparations will turn to Sunday’s Continental Cup semi-final with Notts County. We will have home advantage at the Select Security Stadium in Widnes, and once again our supporters will play a huge part. We are desperate to try and reach the final and we will give it everything we have to try and make that possible.

Notts County are a well organised team and they have beaten us twice in the Super League this year so we know what type of threat they pose. They are a physical side who work well and play to their strengths. If we can improve on our defensive shape and take our chances when they come we know we have the capability to get through to the final.