Boss Paul Lambert says Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round tie against holders and current Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City will be a great occasion for Ipswich Town Women.
The Tractor Girls have reached this stage of the competition for the first time in their history having beaten three teams from the division above as they have progressed to the fifth round.
"I think it’s brilliant for them, I really do,” Lambert said. "I’ve seen them play numerous times and they’ve done great, [manager] Joe [Sheehan] and [assistant] Paige [Shorten] have done really, really well with them.
"The girls have done great themselves to get into the position they’re in going to Man City. It’s a one-off game, any given day you can win any game of football. It’s a one-off, it’ll be difficult, it’ll be a great game, great occasion, great training place, a great stadium they’ll be playing in — everything is great for them.
"But they’ve earned the right to play and put it this way. I’m pretty sure they won’t just turn up and want to make up the numbers they’ll want to give it a go.”
Lambert says it’s been a good experience for the staff as well with the game having attracted national media attention.
"I saw a little bit, I think it was on Sky yesterday, it was really good,” he said. "It was good to give them exposure, I think that was the good thing and let them see what it’s like.
"All the pressure is on Manchester City Women, so the girls here can go up there with freedom and play their normal game and hopefully get through. But I think it’s great for them.”
Reflecting on the women’s game as a whole and the progress made since the World Cup last summer, he added: "It’s getting stronger and stronger. Not just in football, I think in a lot of sports now there’s definitely progress, but in football terms, it’s getting bigger and bigger, and it’s pulling in massive crowds, especially in the World Cup and you see some great players.
"I did my coaching badge funnily enough in Germany, and there was a woman on the course, and she was a German international, and what a player she was, she was fantastic. And that was away back 20 years ago. I think the game is growing and I think it’s healthy.”