Liverpool boss Matt Beard has provided an update on the fitness of his squad ahead of Friday's Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and outlined the lessons learned from the meeting between the two teams at Anfield earlier this season.
The Reds were comfortably beaten 3-0 by their local rivals back in September in what was only their second Women's Super League fixture since their promotion at the end of last season. Since then, the Reds have climbed the standings and now sit eighth, six points behind Friday's opponents.
The scale of the occasion may have got to the players in the reverse fixture at Anfield, but Beard is confident the lessons they learned that night will only serve them when they make the trip across Stanley Park tomorrow night.
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"I think we tried to prepare the team as best we could in a sense of going to Anfield the day before, getting familiar with the dressing room and the walk out onto the pitch." he told the media on Thursday. "But, when you walk out to You’ll Never Walk Alone at Anfield in front of 28,000 people, it’s completely different than what it is at Prenton Park, when we’re generally getting 2,500 at the game.
"I think you could see in the first-half performance it affected us slightly. I thought second half we did a lot better, but we became too open at the back end of the game trying to chase it. It’s a catch-22 because obviously you want to win these types of games playing in the club’s main stadium, but we’ve become too open at the back end of the game trying to chase it.
"The learning from that will live with us because we know what we need to do on Friday night. The pressure will be reversed onto Everton playing at Goodison. We’re looking forward to the occasion and I think from our perspective we learned a lot that night. We’re looking forward to hopefully putting the wrongs of that night right on Friday."
Injuries have been a huge concern for Beard's side this term, with a number of big names sidelined for extended periods of time. The Liverpool boss issued an update on the shape of his squad and when players are expected to return.
Beard continued: "Unfortunately, Mel (Lawley) broke down after training on Monday. (Niamh) Fahey and (Natasha) Dowie will still be out, and Leanne (Kiernan) is now progressing really well, so we’re hoping Leanne will be back post-international break with the team training and then fit for games at the back end of April.
"Everyone else should be back after the international break, so we’ll have a fully-fit squad to choose from. Shanice is back in the squad, which has been great. It’s been great to have her back on the training pitch because she’s such an infectious person as well. We’re looking in good shape."
Liverpool haven't played a competitive fixture since the 2-1 win over Tottenham on March 12. Everton have also been out of action since their 0-0 draw against Leicester City the same day, meaning both sides have had ample time to prepare for such a huge fixture.
"The atmosphere has been great," the Reds boss concluded. "We’ve put a lot of work in on the training ground and we’ve had a few bodies back this week as well, which has been great just for the bench and competition for places. It was a big win against Tottenham, it’s been a great mood and we’re looking forward to tomorrow night now."
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