Pompey Women Prepare For South Coast Derby

On Sunday (December 10th) afternoon, the Blues will host fierce rivals Southampton FC Women at Westleigh Park in the Third Round of The FA Cup.

This will be the second time these 2 sides have met at this same stage of the competition over the last 3 seasons. On December 12th, 2021, Southampton were victorious by 2 goals to 1 following an extra-time victory at Westleigh Park.

Cherelle Khassal had given Pompey the lead in the first half before a reply through Lucia Kendell in the second forced the tie to extra-time, during which the winner was scored by Southampton's Caitlin Morris.

5 players remain from the matchday squad that featured on that day and there is likely to be an element of revenge on the minds of those who featured, which include Hannah Haughton, Evie Gane, Ava Rowbotham, Jaz Younger and Dani Lane.

To reach this stage of the competition, Jay Sadler's side have comfortably seen off 2 sides in lower divisions, firstly beating Fulham 9-1 at Motspur Park in Round 1, before securing a 7-0 victory away at Ebbsfleet United in Round 2.

The visitors have not yet played in The FA Cup this season as they have just entered the competition. This is because they play a tier above Portsmouth in The FA Women's Championship and therefore enter at a later stage.

Ahead of Sunday's South Coast Derby at Westleigh Park, which kicks off at 2pm, Jake Smith has been catching up with captain and goalkeeper Hannah Haughton.

"I'm really looking forward to it. Always proud to lead the team out.

"The feeling amongst all the girls, all the coaching staff is that we're going into this game ready to win, so we're going to do to everything that we can to prepare for that.

"The only pressure that we'll face is the pressure that we put on ourselves."

Listen to the full interview here:

The Blues have been handed boosts on both the injury and suspension front with Annie Rolf and Leeta Rutherford both in contention to return this weekend.

Head coach Jay Sadler has also been providing his thoughts going into the clash with Southampton.

"It's going to be a fantastic occasion. We're hopefully gonna be welcoming a lot of home supporters down to Westleigh Park.

"We understand the challenges that lie ahead but this group have a real belief about them and there's a lot of quality. We want to go and put on a performance that will excite the fans and make them proud.

"Having Leeta's experience and pedigree back in and around the squad, competing for a place, is obviously going to be fantastic."

You can listen to an extended preview of Portsmouth FC Women vs Southampton FC Women by replaying the latest instalment of The Football Hour, on which Jake also spoke with director Eric Coleborn and supporter Ian Chiverton. Listen here!

Express FM will be providing full coverage of this big match, including live kick-by-kick commentary too. Pompey Live will commence at 1pm with Robbie James presenting alongside commentator Henry Deacon, development coach Molly Small and former assistant James Wilson also on the panel.

Kick-off: 2pm.