MY ACCOUNT
Deanna Cooper believes Reading can disrupt Arsenal’s title hopes when they face off in the Women’s Super League on Sunday.
Cooper, 29, has spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Royals and been instrumental in helping Kelly Chambers’ side maintain their top-flight status.
Reading picked up a crucial win over West Ham on Matchday 14 which extended their gap over bottom-placed Leicester to four points, although the Foxes do have a game in hand.
And Cooper is confident that her team-mates can go head-to-head with giants Arsenal, insisting they will give it everything against the fourth-placed Gunners.
Speaking exclusively to LiveScore, she said: “Arsenal are a fantastic team and we have been working this week on how we can be more solid in defence.
“We have not kept many clean sheets this year which I am not too happy about, but we have been working on how to force them into certain areas to make it more difficult.
“[Head coach] Phil Cousins is incredible and he has worked a lot on how we can reduce the number of shots we are having against us and what our shape is going to look like when playing against the bigger teams.
“So hopefully the work we have done will pay off and we can get some points out of the game.”
Never say die
Cooper, who twice won the WSL with Chelsea, missed last week’s victory over Paul Konchesky’s side due to injury.
Despite being sidelined, the experienced centre-back has expressed confidence in her team-mates and insists that they will not just sit back against the Gunners.
She added: “The preparation this week has been key in regard to what Arsenal are good at. They have got 15 amazing players and their squad is massive.
“They are all different players and offer different things so if you can prepare for it the best you can, that will help you going into the game.
“As a squad we love playing against the bigger teams and we tend to perform better against them.
“Results are everything for us at the moment, it is not like we are going to sit back and invite pressure, it is not the sort of team that we are.
“We like to go forward and press to try and fluster teams and we did that really well the last time we played Arsenal. Hopefully we can do it again.”
Building momentum
Only Leicester have lost more games than Reading in the WSL this season which made their win over the Hammers a huge boost for their survival hopes.
When asked whether the victory had lifted the mood in training, Cooper said: “It was a massive three points for us, it has given us a lot of belief that we are good enough to be in the WSL.
“It has been a tough season but I feel that the West Ham game could be a turning point for us.
“We have had some really good performances this season but have not got the results that we wanted.
“We have some big games coming up against teams in and around us so the win gives us a massive confidence boost and takes the pressure off us a bit.”
FA Cup aspirations
Reading will have hoped for an easier opponent than Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, but the former Blues defender is still relishing the opportunity to face up against her old club before the end of the month.
Cooper, who was signed by Emma Hayes in 2017, knows all about the three-time defending WSL champions and their many strengths.
But she maintains the Royals stand a fighting chance, only three games from glory.
She said: “We beat Leicester on penalties and then Tottenham on penalties in the last two rounds and we lost 3-2 to Chelsea before Christmas but one of the goals was offside so we have the confidence to win.
“They also have a lot of games in March so they are going to be rotating their squad which could cause problems.
“You would have preferred to have someone else in the draw but we were out for dinner watching it — we actually had it on in the restaurant we were at and we will deal with what we got.
“We will go out there, give them a game, work hard and see what happens, it is the FA Cup and anything can happen.”
Living the dream
After spending six years as a professional footballer, Cooper still struggles to believe that she gets to live her dream as a job.
Her career evolve alongside the women’s game, which has catapulted in popularity in recent years due to the success of national team at the European Championship.
The former Gillingham and Brighton ace said: “I still sometimes have to pinch myself because I don’t believe that this is my job. I still see this as a hobby because I feel so lucky to be doing it.
“I started off playing grassroots football for Gillingham and didn’t turn professional until I turned 23 so I had a full-time job and was playing for Brighton at the time.
“I do not take a single day for granted and I am proud of my journey. There have been a lot of ups and downs but it has made me the person I am today and I am proud of where I am at.
“When I was growing up I watched the FA Cup final once a year because that is all there was. You can see women’s sports so much more now.
“It will get to a point where the women’s game is seen in a very similar way to what the men’s game is. We are on a pathway to achieving something amazing.”
