Man Utd boss gives update on striker’s contract ahead of Man City clash

Manchester United women’s head coach Marc Skinner has reiterated the club are working hard to secure the future of Lionesses star Alessia Russo.

The striker has scored three goals in her last three games as United moved to second in the WSL and, with her contract up in the summer, the head coach has reiterated his desire to keep the 23-year-old at the club. “The talks are continuing. We are working hard behind the scenes to make that happen” said the 38-year-old United boss.

“I said this before, these contracts talk take a while. With the ever increasing popularity of the game, everything just takes a little bit longer.

“You’re trying to future proof these conversations too, for us we are designing a team that wants to compete in this league so we are working hard to make sure that happens - as soon as we have any updates we’ll make sure we give you them”.

United make the short journey to neighbours Manchester City this Sunday with a bumper Etihad crowd set to host the first WSL fixture between the sides this season and Skinner admits he is revelling in the challenge of another huge occasion.

“I want to see that continued growth from us. We know how difficult it will be and where we are playing at. But for us, even in the recent past, the experiences we’ve had will hopefully build us up for what we want to do.

“There will be nerves from both teams, but we have to try and get into our rhythm as quickly as possible.

“It’s huge. Everybody knows it. The reality is our players are starting to get used to playing big occasions. I talked last year when we had those disappointments about the experience gained. Unless you have those experiences, you don’t really grow from it. We learnt from those experiences and we have to put that into this game.

“It will hopefully be great for everybody to watch but, for us, we are going to try and give every bit of energy for our fans inside”.

An impressive midweek win over Everton in the Continental Cup has left Skinner jokingly admitting his players have left him a selection headache that could some pain medication.

“In all seriousness, it is a very good problem to have. I have always said the hardest part is selecting this team. Interally my player know I don’t doubt them for a second.

“The reality is I’m trying to strike a balance between attack and defence, how we do that, the variances of the game and the planning of the game. There’s much more than just saying ‘this player plays this position’, there’s much more thinking and analysis”.