Wrexham AFC Women return to action on Sunday, playing their first Genero Adran North league game of 2022 at home to Airbus UK.
The match, on Sunday January 9, will take place at Brymbo Sports & Social Complex, and is a change to the scheduled clash away to Pwllheli.
With Pwllheli requesting that match was postponed, Wrexham instead host Airbus as the third-place Red Dragons look to keep up the pressure at the top.
Back in league action
Wrexham AFC Women sit third in the Genero Adran North league table, one point behind leaders Llandudno.
This is their first league match since coming from 3-1 down to beat Llandudno 5-3 in a thrilling game last month.
Airbus have six points from seven games so far, meanwhile, and sit in the bottom half of the table.
Bouncing back?
Wrexham’s most recent game was in the Adran Trophy, where their unbeaten run under new manager Steve Dale came to an end against Welsh champions Swansea City.
Swansea showed their dominance, as the Genero Adran Premier leaders – and reigning back-to-back champions, unbeaten in three years – won 6-0.
All six goals came in the first half, however, with Wrexham earning some credit for a resolute second-half display against their hugely impressive opponents.
Winning streak
In the league, however, it is a different story – Wrexham have won their last four games, all since Steve Dale took charge.
Their last defeat against Adran North opposition actually came against Airbus, albeit in the Adran Trophy.
In the league, they bounced back by beating Llanfair United, Airbus, Denbigh and Llandudno to climb to third in the table.
Their most recent league game was the thrilling win against Llandudno. Having been 3-1 down at half-time, the Red Dragons fought back – Libby Mackenzie, TJ Dickens, Rosie Hughes and Rebecca Pritchard all scoring after the break to seal a stunning victory.
We’ve met before
This will be the fourth meeting of the two teams in the 2021/22 season, and their third in competitive matches.
Airbus won comfortably in pre-season but it has been all change since. Luke Wynne was Wrexham manager at the time, while two of Wrexham’s players in that game – Amy Davies and Tiffany Sands – now play for Airbus.
The first competitive meeting of the season was in the Adran Trophy, in a topsy-turvy game at the Airfield. Amber Lightfoot scored a hat-trick and Rosie Hughes also netted for Wrexham, who led 3-0 at one point, but Airbus eventually won 5-4 with Erin Lovett sent off for the visitors.
Wrexham got revenge in the league, however. Trailing 1-0, Rosie Hughes headed in an equaliser on the stroke of half-time for Wrexham.
After the break, TJ Dickens and Kim Dutton then both scored their first goals of the season to cap an excellent second-half performance and seal a 3-1 win.
Team News
Erin Lovett misses out for Wrexham, but Rebecca Pritchard should be fit after shaking off a recent injury.
Ella Clifton-Stringer is still out injured, however, with Under-19s team-mates Mia Roberts and Lili Jones set to continue in defence.
Keep Up
The match at Brymbo is behind closed doors due to the current Welsh Government COVID-19 guidelines. Keep up with the action by following @WrexhamAFCWomen on Twitter.