Andy Fisher says “don’t take us lightly” ahead of FA Cup trip to Derby County

Stourbridge ladies’ manager Andy Fisher insists his side should not be taken lightly as they prepare to travel to tier three side Derby County for next month’s FA Cup first round clash.

The Glassgirls have made it into this stage of the competition for a second consecutive year following a comprehensive 9-1 win over Solihull Sporting.

Fisher believes his side have the ability to cause an upset when they face the East Midlanders on November 14.

Fisher said: “It’s always good, especially in the women’s game with where we are in the leagues to get to the first round of the FA Cup, we made history last year getting to it and the target this year was getting to this round or maybe even the second round.

“It was potentially going to be a stumbling block against Solihull Sporting, they were undefeated in the division below, we knew they were a physical side with some quality as we’d played them in a pre-season COVID cup previously.

“We turned up, the pitch was quite muddy, and we thought actually this could be a bit difficult so to step up in the manner we did and ultimately roll them over 9-1 was really pleasing.

“It’s like anything in the FA Cup, it’s the same in the men’s game as it is in the women’s game, there were a few shocks over the weekend in the last round.

“I’d just say to any team don’t take us lightly because most of our players can be playing in the divisions above, so it’ll be on the day and we’ll make it as hard for Derby County as we can, I’m sure they’ll be looking at us and saying this could be a bit of a sticky one if we’re not careful, so we’ll make a day of it.”

Manager Andy Fisher

Fisher added he thinks togetherness will be the key attribute to picking up a positive result against the Rams Women.

The Stourbridge boss added: “Togetherness is one of the big things I say to my players, we know we have ability but the one defeat we had this season was because we lost that togetherness and the other team wanted it more.

“If we have a bit of togetherness on the day, they believe in themselves and they’re motivated to try and get through, which they normally are, then that might be the attribute that carries us through to cause an upset.”

The ladies’ team have scored 26 goals, the most goals in the West Midlands Regional Women’s League Premier Division, which has seen them go top of the table with five wins from their opening six league games.

But Fisher believes that his side will have to change their dominant approach when they visit the Don Amott Arena.

He said: “We’ll definitely change our approach, we had to against Wolves when we drew against them twice over the last few seasons and that’ll be a focus on training.

“I’ve said to the players that we have two league games to focus on before the FA Cup and that’s what we’ll do, and we’ll continue playing the way that we need to for those games but definitely for the week before the Derby County game we’ll be looking at what we need to look at and change.

“I think if we go there and play the way we normally play it would be silly and stupid in a sense so we will have to respect Derby County and think about what they’re going to bring to us and change slightly the way we approach the game.”