After being knocked out of the FA Cup in cruel circumstances on Sunday, attentions now turn to the National League Plate for Cheltenham Town Ladies manager Tom Davies.
The Robins couldn’t quite equal their best FA Cup run, falling to Southampton Women’s on penalties, but they had been on an excellent run of form and will be looking to get back to that against West Bromwich Albion.
The Baggies sit 8th in the 13-team Women’s National League Northern Premier Division, one tier above Cheltenham.
Davies’ side have already produced an impressive result in the Plate, winning in west London against Actonians, who are flying high at the same tier as Town.
They dropped into this competition after a narrow defeat to Southampton FC, losing 3-2.
The Saints have won eight of their nine games in the Southern Premier Division, also in the third tier, so to only lose by one was an impressive result for Cheltenham.
Before the FA Cup exit, the Robins were seven games unbeaten, scoring 21 goals in the process.
That will give them confidence ahead of the tough trip to West Brom, who play in Sutton Coldfield.
Davies recognises the task at hand for his players, saying: “It doesn’t come much harder than West Brom in terms of where we’re at at the moment and who we could’ve drawn.
“They’re a fantastic side with fantastic management and fantastic players that we know about. We’re just going to go there and give it our best shot, and similarly to today, there’s no consequence in terms of our ambition to go and win the league.”
This will be Cheltenham’s sixth consecutive cup game, but as Davies says, the focus remains on the league, where the Robins are due to return to action against Chesham United on Sunday, 19 December.
His team haven’t lost in the league since the opening day of the season and are currently 2nd, behind Sunday’s opponents Southampton Women’s on goal difference alone.
Davies says there’s no pressure against West Brom when the Robins travel to the west Midlands at the weekend.
He said: “We’ve got another opportunity to go and make history, we’ve never been to the quarter-final of the Plate.
“We know we’ve put in a fantastic performance today [against Southampton], that’s what we’re highlighting, so we’ll work hard in training this week, go again at the weekend and see what happens.”
Elsewhere in the National League Plate last 16 on Sunday, Cheltenham’s divisional rivals Exeter City make the long trip to Essex to play London Seaward, and there’s a local derby between Boldmere St Michael’s and Sporting Khalsa, both of whom the Robins have played in friendlies this season.
