Ipswich ready to measure improvement against Man City

Nathasha Thomas (left) joined Ipswich in 2015, four years before team-mate Sophie Peskett (right)

It was just under five years ago that Ipswich Town - then in the fourth tier of women's football - suffered a 10-0 mauling by Manchester City in the FA Cup.

The divisional gap between the two sides has closed since then and if Ipswich achieve their promotion goal this season, they will be only one level below City in Women's Super League.

Natasha Thomas and Sophie Peskett were two of the players on the receiving end in February 2020 and both are hoping for a much closer contest when they test themselves against the same opponents in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

"We want to play against the best teams and Man City are that. We know it's going to be very competitive," forward Thomas told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"For me as an individual, I'm just really excited to see how far I've come since the last time we played them. I've grown as a player and a person," said winger Peskett.

"At the time, I would have been 16, 17 - I've gone through a 14-month injury since then and I've learned a lot tactically and played with players with a lot more experience than me. Physically I've come a long way as well."

City won the cup three times between 2017 and 2020 and they remain one of the premier sides in the WSL, finishing second behind Chelsea last season. They currently occupy the same position this term.

They have a team packed with international talent - although their pre-Christmas form saw them lose two of their past three league games and go down 3-0 to Barcelona in the Champions League.

Despite that, Peskett - who became Ipswich's first fully professional women's player in 2021 - is under no illusions about what they will be up against at the Joie Stadium.

"We're not naive, it's going to be a really tough game and we just want to be competitive and show what we've been working on," she said. "If we could cause an upset, you never know, that would be amazing.

"All of us want to play at that top level one day and be in the position these players are in. I'm going to try and soak in everything I can, learn as much as possible and just enjoy the occasion.

"Players like Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp - I don't think she'll be playing because of injury - are ones I obviously look up to and I'm going to be able to watch them in the flesh, look at what they do and what I at the minute can't, so I just want to take on everything I can."

Manager Joe Sheehan is hoping to guide Ipswich to a place in the Championship next season

Peskett scored the only goal when Ipswich beat Bournemouth 1-0 to set up the tie against City.

Town also reached the fourth round in the past two seasons and in 2022 made it all the way to the last eight before losing 1-0 to WSL side West Ham.

They are unbeaten in Women's National League Southern Premier this season, winning nine of their 11 games so far, and lead the table on goal difference from Hashtag United.

Ipswich could have a new face in their side against City, having brought in Chelsea forward Lucy Watson on loan for the rest of the season.

"It'll be a great experience, win, lose or draw and it puts Ipswich on the map," she told the club website.

Peskett is the second highest scorer in the league with 16 goals - four of them in a 13-0 demolition of MK Dons - and Jamaica international Thomas has also reached double figures.

"We prepare the same for whoever we're playing, whether it's bottom of the league, top of the league or a WSL team," said Thomas.

"As a whole and individuals we need to try and prepare the same and have the same mindset really."

Manager Joe Sheehan, though, believes 'more of the same' will not be enough against City.

"More often than not from the season so far we've been the dominant team and now, for the first time, that has totally swung in Manchester City's favour," he said.

"We've played in our way for some time now, that's been really consistent. Clearly we can't go with that same approach.

"Do we want to come too far away from that? Not really. But there might be some phases of the game where we might have to make totally different decisions than what we'd normally do in a league game."

Sheehan admitted that memories of that 2020 meeting with City had provided the "foundation" for their work in the build-up to the re-match.

"Preparing for these type of teams is a long intense process and while it's going to be an exciting occasion, we would clearly have preferred to have a team that we would have more chance of being on a level playing field against," he added.

"I think we prepare for this game in isolation because of the magnitude of it, the level of opposition, it is a unique challenge.

"Last time we played them, we probably did get a bit excited and probably did think that we could cause a bit of a problem, whereas this time around it's just about trying to be competitive and trying to learn from the experience of playing them that can hopefully serve us well for the remainder of our season."