Why Ellie Brazil and Brighton have reason for optimism against Manchester City

Brighton manager Hope Powell believes that her side are still capable of getting a result ahead of their clash with with Manchester City on Sunday despite the squad being struck by a number of injuries and coronavirus cases.

While the players are ‘on the mend’ and back from isolation, Powell revealed that they will not be available for selection this weekend.

“The virus and some injuries have depleted the squad but we’re not using that as an excuse, we’re going to get on with it and have a really good go.

“It will be a bit like last Sunday, we will have to plug some holes, but we are keen to play the game.”

The Seagulls were bitterly disappointed not to come away with three points after edging the game against Birmingham City last weekend, so will need to ensure they take their chances, especially against a top side such as Manchester City.

Brighton’s back-line will need to be alert to City’s attack after they breezed past Aston Villa with a 7-0 win in their last league match.

The Manchester side will also be eager to bounce back after their cup defeat to Chelsea midweek.

Powell is aware that her team will arguably be the underdogs going into Sunday’s game, however, the head coach insisted they don’t feel the pressure, especially after holding off for a draw in the reverse fixture last September.

“I think the pressure is always off when you play the so-called ‘top four, because the expectation is that they have to win.

“When we played them away, the expectation was for Man City to win. We have nothing to lose and so much more to gain, when that’s the case we play with a little bit of a lighter load, so why shouldn’t we be confident?

“I don’t think we can underestimate them, they’re a quality side. We recognise they had a very tough midweek fixture that can hopefully work in our favour.

“We’re not at full strength as everybody knows, but we definitely want to compete and we’ll draw on the fact we competed very well against them in our away fixture and hopefully we can put in a performance like that again on Sunday.”

Brighton forward Ellie Brazil will be desperate to find the back of the net after expressing her frustration when she failed to take her chances last weekend.

The 22-year-old insisted that seeing a change in the club’s mentality since returning from her 13-month ACL injury is the reason why they can now be disappointed with just taking a point.

“Coming off of the Birmingham game I was kicking myself because I had three opportunities on goal and I should’ve buried at least two of them.

“I’m still working on getting the muscle memory back to shooting and getting the ball in the back of the net, which is the hard part of coming back from injury, it doesn’t come back naturally.

“I would love to get back on the scoresheet but it’s more so helping the team win and getting points on the board regardless of whether I score."

“It was tough to not to get the three points there. The fact we all came off the pitch disappointed that we didn’t get the win, it’s nice to be in that environment.

“Last year we would normally come off with a point and say 'okay, it’s an extra point’, but seeing that as a negative shows how far we’ve come and how much we’re striving to want to achieve.”

A win on Sunday could kickstart some goalscoring form that Powell has been longing for throughout the season.

Defeating Manchester City could also prove to be a statement that The Seagulls can compete with some of the league’s top sides.