Captain's Diary: Alicia Powe
7th August
In preparation for the upcoming season the squad have been working alongside our strength and conditioning coach, Jack Spillets.
Throughout the past six weeks of summer the girls have been put through their paces with Jack's unique fitness sessions, and to say the least they were very inventive!
Despite the high intensity, there's been a great combination of work ethic and commitment from everyone.
We kicked off our pre-season with a friendly against Swindon Town, and despite the result we displayed a great team performance and can take many positives from the game.
We will now be travelling to Cork in Ireland for a short pre-season tour, consisting of games against Cork Ladies, Wexford Ladies and Newry Ladies.
As a squad I personally feel we've grown and developed since the end of last season. With a few new signings, players returning from injury and old players returning to the club, this has given us more depth and strength.
The return of the Hancock sisters is a massive positive, along with Rachel Rowe displaying a quick recovery from a serious injury which ruled her out of the majority of last season.
In addition to this, the younger players have now gained a year's experience within the Welsh Women's Premier League, all of which have settled in and adapted extremely well.
The success of hard work is displayed through five players being called up for the Wales Under-19s squad in preparation for the UEFA Championship qualifiers; players include Katy Hosford, Chloe Lloyd, Emma Beynon, Lowri Ridings and Sophie Hancocks.
As a squad we are more physically and mentally prepared for next season and are hoping to get the campaign off to a positive start.
The season kicks off on September 7 which sees us take on Pilcs Ladies at their home ground in Pontypool.
