Women's Super League

Manchester United beat Leicester 2-0 for their seventh successive Women's Super League victory. Here is what the managers said after the game:

Marc Skinner, speaking to BBC Sport: "I was [pleased with the performance], first half especially. I felt we might fall off a little bit second half because we have only had two days from international duty. Winners find a way to win and we have done that. We have already accrued more points now with seven games to go than we did last season."

On Melvine Malard's goal in Elisabeth Terland's absence and his selection headache: "A great headache. I am so pleased for Mel today, she deserved that. She worked tirelessly."

Amandine Miquel speaking to BBC Sport: "We didn't do enough in the first half clearly. We were better in the second half but it wasn't enough. We gave ourselves troubles alone. We were late, we didn't move as a block and we opened up options for them which made it easier for them to score."

On looking forward to their next game: "In this league, there are no easy games. We have to give everything to every game. We will focus on the second half and make sure we have that in our next game. "

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Chelsea have signed goalkeeper Becky Spencer on emergency loan from Tottenham until the end of the season.

Spencer will provide cover for Zecira Musovic and Femke Liefting.

Musovic announced in January that she would miss the remainder of the season due to pregnancy, while Femke Liefting, signed during the January transfer window from AZ Alkmaar, suffered a foot injury ahead of Chelsea's meeting with Everton on February 16. The club has described her injury as "long-term".

Spencer, 34, previously played for Chelsea between 2016 and 2018, winning the WSL and the FA Cup during her time at the club.

The Jamaica international was previously first-choice goalkeeper at Tottenham but has fallen behind Eleanor Heeps and January signing Lize Kop in the pecking order.

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Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said "it was an extremely difficult decision" to sack boss Laura Kaminski.

Kaminski joined Palace in 2023 and oversaw the club's promotion to the Women's Super League for the first time in the club's history.

Her departure has been confirmed with Palace sitting bottom of the WSL on six points, four points from safety.

"This has been an extremely difficult decision for the club to take," Parish said. Laura has made a fantastic impact since arriving.

"Laura has given her all, on and off the pitch, and she leaves here with all of our thanks and best wishes for the future."

The club say they will provide an update on Kaminski's replacement in due course.

Ellie Thomason
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Boss Renee Slegers said Arsenal must keep believing the Women's League Super League title is still in reach for her side.

The Gunners return from the international break sitting third in the WSL, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea with eight games to play.

"We need to believe that, and I do," Slegers said on her side's title chances. "All we can do is: we're in the position we're in at the moment. We have a very exciting block, full of opportunities ahead of us, and we're going to try and take those opportunities, and that's within our control.

"Everything that the others do, we can't control. But we're going to try what we can do in these games."

Here are more key lines from Slegers before Sunday's game against West Ham (kick-off 17:30 GMT)

• Beth Mead has returned to training and it in contention, but Lotte Wubben-Moy remains sidelined.

• On being named WSL manager of the month for the second time: "nything we win is shared between people that are working here, so both players and staff, because I think you can't do anything by yourself."

• She was full of praise for Mariona Caldentey, who won the WSL player of the month award for February: "There are so many things to say about Mariona, because she does so many things so well. Technically and tactically - her intelligence is really high level. Her work ethic is unbelievable."

• On pushing for the Champions League, FA Cup and the WSL: "It's very exciting. This is where we want to be."

The Women's Super League game between Manchester United and Everton will be broadcast live on the BBC.

The match is on Sunday, 30 March, with kick-off at 12:00 BST.

Marc Skinner's side won the reverse fixture in September, with Grace Clinton scoring the only goal of the game.

Adam Millington
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham boss Robert Vilahamn wants his side to adapt in Sunday's Women's Super League game (14:00 GMT) to be able to compete with Manchester City, but does not want them to divert from their style too much.

Spurs were defeated 5-0 by rivals Arsenal before the international break and lost 4-0 to City in the league in November.

Speaking in his pre-match news conference, Vilahamn said: "I think we have had some big losses against the top teams this season. We thought we were ready to compete the way that we want to play and go for it.

"In most of those games actually we have conceded goals early and haven't really nailed both in and out of possession.

"We don't want to lose 5-0, we don't want big numbers, but we still want to push the team forwards because in the end we will have that identity, that's the whole part of why we're here. It's a mixture of it."

Here are some more key lines from his news conference:

• Eveliina Summananen has returned and is in contention for Sunday's match.

• Vilahamn was "very happy" to see Rebecca Spencer play for Jamaica, as she is a "top goalkeeper with high quality competing here every day."

• Spurs had a good international break, which included a friendly against Championship side London City Lionesses.

• He would rather be playing every week than have games being spread out, with Spurs having to wait two weeks for their next fixture after playing City.

Ellie Thomason
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool interim boss Amber Whiteley praised the response of players after Matt Beard's departure on Thursday.

Whiteley starts her second spell in temporary charge against Crystal Palace on Sunday and she expects to lead the team until at least the end of the season, though she wants the job on a permanent basis.

"I saw Matt on Wednesday evening so I wanted to let the players know that he is good, he is ok and then we moved on to the Palace prep," she said.

"There are always mixed emotions when a manager leaves a club. It's never an easy thing to go through. The players have been absolutely brilliant in the way they responded and turned their focus to Palace for the weekend.

"I'm so grateful to Matt for everything that he has given to me personally over the last three and a bit years. I'm going to miss him."

Here are more lines from Whiteley's news conference before Sunday's game (kick-off 14:00 GMT)

• On what she will look to change, she said: "The dilemma is always how much have you changed. There will be some changes but nothing too drastic."

• On what she wants to achieve between now and the end of the season, she said: "We would like to be more consistent, that's for definite. We have eight league games remaining and an FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Lots to play for. It's important we put the work in on the training pitch and give some performances that the fans are going to be proud of."

• She added: "We have got so much talent in this group. We have been inconsistent up until the Christmas break. We have had a decent run since but we really want a really strong finish to the season now."

• Leanne Kiernan will miss Sunday's game

Adam Millington
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor says it is going to be "really" tough for his side to get the results they want during a very busy March.

City have reached the League Cup final, FA Cup quarter-finals and Champions League quarter-finals and now have eight games in the month.

They have a calmer April, but Taylor said he wants that to be busier and that happens by "being successful in this period" - a task which will not be easy.

City's cramped month begins on Sunday, when they travel to take on Tottenham in the Women's Super League at 14:00 GMT.

Speaking in his pre-match news conference, Taylor said: "There's a lot going on in this month and I think the conversation will certainly be 'attack the next game, don't try and give too much thought to what's further down the road'.

"We've worked really hard to get to that final, that's great and it's difficult not to have one eye on that.

"But, we have priorities with two tough fixtures against Spurs and West Ham both away and back after an international break so everything's thrown into the mix a little bit in terms of a challenge."

Here are some more key lines from his news conference before Sunday's Women's Super League game:

• Rebecca Knaak will be out for "a few weeks" after sustaining a hamstring injury on international duty

• Laura Coombs is nearing a return from injury - "if not Sunday, then it will be definitely be Wednesday [against West Ham in the league]"

• He hopes that Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood will be able to return in March, with their being "plenty of games" for them to be "brought back gradually"

• He thought Jess Park did "really well" on international duty for England and has been a "top player, a top person to work with" who people are starting to see "the real quality" of.

Ellie Thomason
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Rehanne Skinner hopes her West Ham side can pick up from where they left off before the international break when they face Arsenal on Sunday (kick-off 17:30 GMT).

The Hammers beat Brighton 3-1 in their last game before the break and Skinner is keen to continue the momentum into this next block of games.

"We get used to these stoppages but you want to try and get a bit of momentum and keep the flow going when you are in that headspace," she said.

"The narrative hasn't changed in terms of what we are trying to achieve as a team. That is the bit everyone is going to sink back into at the weekend.

"It's a London derby and we want to make sure we give it everything we can. It's going to be a tough test for us but on our day and in this league you can get results from anybody in the league."

Here are the more lines from Skinner's news conference:

• On the potential restructure of the WSL and scrapping relegation, she said: "If the league were to be closed, given the number of teams in it at the moment, I don't think that is appropriate. The league has got to be bigger to be able to do that. I don't see it as a bad thing. The game is evolving, things need to be reviewed as to what happens next but it comes with criteria."

• The Gunners won 2-0 when the sides last met in what was Renee Slegers' first WSL game in charge. On Slegers, Skinner said: "She has done a fantastic job since she came in. That has got to be acknowledged by everybody."

• On Arsenal, she added: "They have got good quality and they will be a handful for sure. It's going to be a real tough test for us."

Adam Millington
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa boss Natalia Arroyo said she doesn't want to "push any player to stay" after the departure of forward Adriana Leon earlier this week.

Canada international Leon, 32, joined the San Diego Wave for an undisclosed fee on Monday.

Arroyo said Leon had been wanting to move closer to her home country and to be able to play again in the USA's National Women's Soccer League.

"Where a player is thinking other things, in my experience it doesn't help to force them to stay even if they are very good," Arroyo said, speaking in her pre-match news conference before Aston Villa host Everton on Sunday (14:00 GMT).

"We have the skills to still be an attacking team and whatever we lack we will find in the next window."

"Today, in the women's game, we are starting to see these kind of movements when players are out of contract in the summer, [moving in] the window in the winter - with some markets being very, very aggressive.

"It's an opportunity for the clubs and we've got to accept that."

Here are some more key lines from her news conference before Sunday's Women's Super League game:

• Everybody is "fine" and "fit" after the international break, with the same players being available as before the break.

• Rachel Corsie, Lucy Staniforth and Maz Pachecho are "close" to returning from injury, but still a few weeks from being fully fit.

• Arroyo said Everton will be a "tough" opponent who are "one of the most creative and dynamic teams in this league."

• She wants her side to replicate the "feeling, energy and passion" they had out of possession against Chelsea and Brighton.

• The starting point has been "good" since she took over as manager but she is not trying to "set the bar a bit higher."

Image source, Getty Images

It was a clean sweep for Arsenal in the Women's Super League's awards for February, with Mariona Caldentey being voted player of the month and boss Renee Slegers taking the manager of the month award.

The Gunners won both of their WSL games this month, beating Manchester City 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller before thrashing north London rivals Tottenham 5-0 at Emirates Stadium.

Caldentey scored in both fixtures, as well as providing an assist against City. She beat Mary Fowler, Kelly Gago, Toni Payne, Elisabeth Terland and teammate Frida Maanum to take the award.

Slegers was voted above Sonia Bompastor and Marc Skinner.