Key quotes: Skinner’s pre-Liverpool press conference

The 14:00 BST kick-off at Prenton Park, which you can listen to live radio commentary of on MUTV, is our penultimate game of the Women’s Super League season and comes exactly seven days before next weekend’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup final clash with Tottenham.

Skinner says United’s focus is not currently on the approaching date at Wembley Stadium however, or the final-day showdown with Chelsea at Old Trafford after that, with all attention on the forthcoming duel with our Merseyside rivals.

The boss was speaking to assembled journalists in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, and you can see a round-up of the key quotes from that virtual media session below…

FIRST OF THREE ‘FINALS’

“We’ve got a showpiece final next week, but we’ve got a final this weekend, and we’ve got a final, obviously, when we play at Old Trafford against Chelsea. I’ve obviously watched the game, Chelsea against Liverpool [on Wednesday], and I thought Liverpool were super resilient, really good on the counter and made set-pieces count on their home ground. So, it’s going to be a difficult game. We have to make sure we put our best efforts in this weekend and, hopefully, take the points.”

LIVERPOOL’S SET-PIECE THREAT

“They were good the other night [against Chelsea], weren’t they? The delivery was excellent, the way they attacked them was excellent. You can look at defensive structure but, from Liverpool’s perspective, you’ve got to look at the way they attack them. The hunger they showed for them. Every time we’ve played Liverpool, the last time we played them, we lost the game, and it was on the fundamentals. That’s not just what Liverpool are, they are very good at playing direct and mixing it up, their build-up is different to most in the league. So, we’ve got to be alive in all of those [areas].”

TEAM NEWS

“Everyone, currently, is available. I’m hopeful that Jayde Riviere will be available on the bench as well. So everyone, barring the long-term injuries, is available and that’s obviously looking positive going into the last three games.”

OUR FOCUS IS ON THIS WEEKEND

“It’s part and parcel of the psychology of performance [not looking ahead to next weekend’s FA Cup final yet]. What you have to almost explain, and the players know this, is that you’re more likely to get injured if you go half-hearted into tackles, if you half-challenge. You’re more likely to lose games and confidence if you go half-hearted into what you’re doing and the players know that. Every player in this squad wants to perform in the final next week… but the challenge for a team if you want to compete, and we talk about it often, in the latter stages of tournaments and for leagues, then you have to be present in every moment.”

ALWAYS A SIGNIFICANT FIXTURE

“There’s a lot of Man United fans and, obviously, it’s a Man United-Liverpool game, and the teams are very close in terms of the table, so we’ve got to be at our best. If we can do that, we’ll see on Sunday what the outcome is.”

MALARD HAS EVOLVED WITH US

“Melvine has predominantly played [on] the left side for Lyon and, for us, because we lost Gabby [George] early in the season, we didn’t have that left-foot balance, and, obviously, Leah [Galton] offers a left-foot balance. Since we’ve put Melvine in the nine [forward position], I feel like she’s got that deadly finisher’s touch. If we can get her into the box, I feel like she has that quality to finish. I think we’ve had to evolve throughout the season with her, I think she’s evolved and it’s obviously something we’re assessing going into the end of this season and next season about what that looks like. But I think she can be proud of what she’s done lately and what she’s continued to add to the team.”