Match Preview

Jamie Lloyd Davies' new look Southampton Women's FC side are set to make a 300 mile round trip to take on Cambridge City in the FA Women's National League Cup Determining Round.

It's the first round that will determine which side will progress into the League Cup or the League Plate.

Last season the Sirens narrowly lost to Cardiff City which put them on a historic run to reach the Semi-Finals of the League Plate.

Wins over Hounslow, Swindon Town and Billericay Town lined up a last four meeting with Leeds United.

Lloyd Davies has recruited well bringing in talented young players and those with experience the most recent signings being the attacking prowess of Chloe Ball and Erin Bloomfield.

Sunday's fixture against the Lilywhites is the first competitive fixture for the former Swindon Town manager.

It was a mixed bag for the Sirens during pre-season with two wins and two defeats as they faced teams from across the National League.

Cambridge are new opposition for Southampton as they ply their trade in the National League Division One South East.

The Lilywhites have signed 14 new players this summer a big overhaul for their squad who finished ninth in the league.

Lloyd Davies will likely look to utilise the senior squad with the only players missing being Kirsty Whitton (suspension), Shannon Sievwright (injury) and new signing Bloomfield (international clearance).

The Sirens announced that Whitton was club captain earlier in the week with Chloe Tucker and Sievwright taking up the vice-captain roles.

Looking ahead to the season Sievwright discussed the need for looking at things game by game and the learning involved for all.

She said: “This has been a transition period during pre-season so I think it’s important for us to gel with one another, understand what Jamie and the coaching team want from us which we’ve done really.

“For me personally, I really like learning different tactical elements of the game so that’s been really motivating for me to understand a new way of playing.

I think all of the girls have been wanting to listen, to learn so I think throughout the season it’s just going to be about building on each game and each performance.”

The game kicks off at 2:00pm at The New Croft, CB9 0BW on Sunday, August 27th.