Wrexham AFC Women manager Steve Dale stated the importance of his side ending their 2023/24 Genero Adran Premier campaign on a high against champions Cardiff City.
The Red Dragons have secured a third place finish in their first season since promotion to the top-flight, with Swansea City not able to be caught in the final match of the league season.
Speaking about the campaign as a whole, Dale explained: “It’s a shame it's ending really. The season has gone really quick and there has been a fair bit of travelling with Phase Two, which has made it feel a little bit longer than it normally would be.
“However, I've really enjoyed the season and I think that the girls have as well, to cement third position comfortably in our first season and have a cup final to look forward to, it is a fantastic achievement.
“We’ve got one big game to go now and it would be nice to put everything that we’ve done in Phase Two together to end on a high and get a good performance and result against Cardiff.”
The Bluebirds have claimed back-to-back titles, but Wrexham have faced some interesting challenges against the champions this season.
Dale gave credit to the South Wales side for their efforts this season, having lost just twice in the league to date.
He explained: “They (Cardiff) have gone and won the league and probably deserved to, they’ve been the best team consistently throughout the season so credit to them for what they’ve achieved this season.
“We’ve not been far away from them in terms of performances, even if a couple of the score lines might suggest otherwise. On the day, things haven’t really gone to plan and we’re looking to mould all of the positives together from our previous matches against them this time.
However, the manager emphasised that Wrexham are planning to go into the clash intent on setting the record straight against Iain Darbyshire’s side.
“We don’t want to go there and show them too much respect,” Dale explained. “As I've said before, we have to congratulate them but we are not going there to play nice and hand it to them.
“That means we have to continue to do what we have done well over the last few games. It would be nice to spoil the party a little bit and get the rewards that we deserve.
“It would be great to send out a statement against Cardiff at the Cardiff City Stadium. When Swansea beat us at the SToK Cae Ras it wasn’t a nice feeling.
“We should've won that game - so we have to rise to the challenge against Cardiff and we are fully focused on going there and getting a win.”
