Women: FA WNL Cup Quarter-Final Preview - Plymouth Argyle

Match Info

Fixture: Plymouth Argyle v Watford
Competition: FA Women's National League Cup
Venue: Home Park
Time: Sunday December 1, 2pm
Strip: Yellow home kit

Watford FC Women will be looking to make it to the last four of the FA Women's National League Cup when they face Plymouth Argyle at Home Park in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

Renée Hector's side will also be looking to bounce back after they exited the FA Cup last week away at Oxford United.

The Golden Girls have been prolific in this competition so far this season, scoring 14 goals in their three League Cup matches.

Both sides ply their trade in the southern section of the third-tier, but have yet to face off in the league in 2024/25.

How We Got Here

Watford have been in free flow in this competiton - sandwiching a 7-1 win away at Chesham United in the determining round and a 6-1 home victory against Queens Park Rangers with a 1-0 triumph over Lewes.

They will be looking to make it to the semi-finals for the second time in three seasons, having reached the final in the 2022/23 campaign.

Argyle's cup run has been a welcome distraction from their league form, where they currently sit in the relegation zone after 10 matches.

The Green Army have beaten Bridgewater United, Maidenhead United, London Bees and Billericay Town to reach this stage, scoring 13 goals in the process.

Pre-Match Chat

Golden Girls Head Coach Renée Hector spoke to watfordfc.com ahead of the trip to Devon, and hinted at some rotation to allow those who have worked hard a well-deserved chance to impress.

“It is a competition we have done really well in and scored a lot of goals in," she said. "It also offers an opportunity as well to get some players some minutes that deserve an opportunity.

“Obviously we had a disappointing result at the weekend for a few reasons, but it will be a good opportunity to bounce back and advance further in the cup and hopefully get ourselves into a semi-final.

“It is a competition we have scored a lot of goals in and hopefully that brings a lot of confidence within the group, and confidence with those players who don’t get to play week in and week out.

“They have contributed massively in these games, and it is only fair to reward them with these opportunities to go for it again.

“We say to the girls all the time, we encourage them, we assure them with how good they are as footballers.

“We have also worked a lot on the top end of the pitch, because we could have scored more goals than we have, even though we have scored quite a few.

“We will be working on that again and hopefully we can get a few names on the scoresheet.”

Team News

Elkie Bowyer will be out for two to three weeks after picking up a knock playing for Tottenham Hotspur last week, and is therefore unavailable for the cup clash.

Kalani Peart will also be unavailable for selection having suffered a small setback in her recovery.

“She is working on her match fitness and gaining minutes with the Under-23s, so hopefully we will have her back with us very soon,” the Head Coach said.

However, there was some good news in relation to Melis Mehmet, who has been slowly reintroduced into the first-team environment after recovering from a long-term injury.

“Melis will be involved again on Sunday, so hopefully we can get her a good run out,” Hector said.

“I know she played in the game in the previous round in this cup, so hopefully a little bit of momentum for her.

“It is a nice opportunity for her to get minutes for the first team.”

Tickets

Tickets are available to purchase from the Plymouth Argyle website HERE.

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