Skinner: The players are hurting, they want to react

The Reds lost 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium but are ready to use that pain in a positive manner in Sunday's game against Everton at Leigh Sports Village.

United currently sit fifth in the Women’s Super League table but have had two convincing wins against the Toffees so far this season.

Skinner spoke to the press about performance levels and England squad omissions, and also gave an update on injuries.

THE PLAYERS ARE HURTING

"We created so many good chances in the derby so we're disappointed with the result. Like it hurts - of course it does. It's a big game. But I was happy with the performance and that hurts us all because when you perform well at your opponents' stadium, you want to take some points.

"From our perspective, it's now about getting back to our home ground, getting back to Leigh Sports Village in front of our fans and putting on a performance.

"The players are hurting. They want to react and they want to put that energy back into our performances. We have to be clinical in both boxes, because we conceded goals we didn't want to, and we should have scored more. That's what we'll plan to do, against a very difficult Everton team."

IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

"Players will be naturally disappointed not to be in [the England squad]. Sarina [Wiegman] communicates very clearly to them and they will know exactly why they are not selected for this one. It's a great opportunity as well for us to work with Maya [Le Tissier] and Keets [Nikita Parris] in this window to do individual stuff to get all the things that they need out of their performances to continue to improve.

"It's a small window. We use it as a way to improve performance and continue to give that time. You don't always have it in the week. There is natural disappointment but very professional attitudes and they will look to get better and use that time accordingly."

TURNER IN LIONESSES SQUAD

"Millie is consistent, she has fantastic aerial ability and she has this calmness with the ball. I think probably that's why Sarina will look at her as well. I've really enjoyed the last few games, especially where she stepped up more. The aggressive nature of her one-v-one play has been noted by Sarina, I'm sure.

"Millie gives a lot to the training environment as well. She's a good person as well as obviously being a good footballer. I'm really pleased for her. I want to make sure that she goes there and puts the best of herself to give herself the opportunity to potentially start and play games as well for England. All of us obviously congratulate her and long may it continue. She's got to work hard but long may that continue."

THE TEAM IS DRIVEN

"We've still got to play Liverpool and we've still got lots of big games coming up. I think if you are driven by just staring at the table rather than your performance time it can affect you.

"We want to perform well and we want to win things here. We're in a semi-final of an FA Cup and we're in the place we currently sit. It serves as a reminder that the league is getting tighter. We have to control what we can control. The team is fully driven to win as many of the games as we can towards the end of this season, and that's all we can do."

INJURY UPDATE

"[Hinata Miyazawa and Leah Galton] will be available for the game this weekend. They obviously won’t be 90-minutes ready, but they should be up for selection and available for the squad which is really, really positive.

"Jayde [Riviere] will be out. She is still having ongoing assessments but she'll miss this game. I'll give you updates of course, as soon as we have a time frame, but we're just continuously assessing that one. Everybody else should be available for selection."

HOME GAMES

Make sure you come down to Leigh Sports Village on 31 March, 14 April and 21 April, and Old Trafford on 18 May, to support United Women in our remaining home games this season:

Sun 31 Mar: Everton (12:00 BST)
Sun 14 Apr: Chelsea, FA Cup semi-final (14:35 BST)
Sun 21 Apr: Tottenham (12:00 BST)*
Sun 18 May: Chelsea (15:00 BST)**

*Time and date TBC
**This game is being played at Old Trafford.

You can buy tickets for all of these games here.