Aberdeen Women travel to Brechin on Wednesday night as they host Glasgow City at Glebe Park in SWPL 1.
The Dons return to SWPL 1 action after their quarter-final exit in the League Cup at the hands of Hibernian.
Aberdeen co-boss Gavin Beith believes his side’s double-header against Hibs has highlighted areas of their game that can be improved upon against top opposition in SWPL 1.
He said: “There is a lot we can take from the last two matches against Hibs. We defended well for periods of the cup game and that’s the second time in two weeks that we’ve done that against them.
“So we know we can set up defensively, but we need to try and get ourselves up the park and be more of a threat. We’ll work on that and put a plan together for the game against Glasgow City.”
Aberdeen’s attacking threat will be boosted by the return of Bayley Hutchison, last season’s top goal-scorer.
The 18-year-old forward returned to the Dons starting XI on Sunday against Hibs after being sidelined for over two months due to injury.
disappointing result but good to be back ❤️ https://t.co/MQqPVXW8Vs
— bayleyhutchison (@bayleyhutchison) October 31, 2021
Hutchison made an obvious impact on the game throughout the 45 minutes that she played which is something that Beith hopes she can replicate in the upcoming fixtures.
He said: “I’ve talked about us maybe lacking a bit of cutting edge further up the pitch and Bayley certainly brings that.
“The more she plays and the more she trains, it’ll improve her confidence and her match sharpness will come back.
“Once she gets there, she’ll no doubt have an impact on our game.”
Wednesday’s game against Glasgow City marks the end of a tough run of fixtures for Aberdeen having played three out of the top-four sides in SWPL 1 consecutively since the beginning of October.
The Dons are without a win since September, but Beith insists that his young side will revel in the opportunity to come up against Glasgow City, a side that has dominated women’s football in Scotland having won 14 league titles in a row.
He added: “It’s going to be another tough game, but one we want to be playing. It’s why we wanted to play in this league, to play against the top sides.
“This is the league that everyone wants to be in and there’s never going to be an easy game, but it’s something that we are looking forward to.”
A home away from home
Aberdeen will host Glasgow City at Glebe Park in Brechin with Balmoral Stadium unavailable for the rescheduled fixture.
Co-boss Beith will be no stranger to the Glebe having had a spell with the Angus side in his own player career.
However, he admits that the conditions might cause difficulties for both sides as neither team plays or trains on grass.
The pitch at Glebe Park is unlikely to be in its best condition due to the heavy rain that has hit the north-east.
Is Glebe Park the most stunning ground in Scottish football? That’s not for us to say…
But yes. pic.twitter.com/y9lTewMQ3l
— Brechin City FC (@BrechinCityFC) June 28, 2019
He said: “It’s going to be a difficult one because you want to play the way the way you like to, but the conditions might dictate that.
“If the pitch doesn’t allow you to do that then you need to make good decisions and maybe play the ball that little bit longer.
“We’ll assess that, see how the pitch is and address it from there.”
Aberdeen Women’s fixture against Glasgow City will kick off at 7.30pm at Glebe Park. Entry will cost £5 for adults with under-16s getting in for free.