Ipswich Town Women travel to face table-topping Charlton Athletic at the Valley this afternoon still looking for their first WSL2 point (KO 2pm, live on YouTube).
The Blues were beaten 4-0 at Southampton in their opening game before last week’s 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in their first match at their new home, Colchester United’s JobServe Community Stadium.
Reflecting on the first two games, manager Joe Sheehan told TownTV: "It’s been challenging for us but we didn’t expect any different. We played a Southampton side that are very well established for the level but have had a bit of turnaround of players and new staff.
"Playing them at St Mary’s was a challenging game for us but there were moments we were quite pleased with but there was also large parts of the game we needed to improve.
"In contrast to that, Nottingham Forest, like ourselves, are new to the division but have recruited very, very well, have got some real strong ambitions to probably try and get out of the division again and it was a tough game for us.
"But I think there were signs of progress from the previous week, there were some elements of the game that we’d improved on and the scoreline also suggests that it was a closer affair.
"But we’re still new to the division, we’ve still got lots of players that will benefit from the new experiences they’re getting and we’ll continue to grow and improve over time.”
The Addicks have won their first two fixtures, a 1-0 home victory over Crystal Palace a fortnight ago, despite having been reduced to 10 women in the closing stages, then a 2-1 away victory over Durham City last weekend.
Sheehan, whose side will be wearing the new third kit this afternoon, says Charlton’s impressive opening to the campaign comes as no shock, the South Londoners having finished third in the second tier last season, six points off the top.
"They’ve had a strong start to the season, which is no surprise to us because I think they’ve always started the season really well, they’ve always been in and around the top places in the division,” he added.
"They’re well established, they’re well managed, they’re well coached and they’ve started the season well.
"We’re looking forward to the challenge, some new challenges that might be different to those the previous two opponents have posed us but we’re excited for it.
"We’re excited for the challenge, we’re ready to go there and try and perform as best as we can and try and give ourselves every chance of picking up some points.”
Sheehan says the squad have suffered one or two injuries on top of the likes of Charlotte Fleming (ACL) and Shauna Guyatt, who have been out since last season.
The Blues boss admits the fitness situation isn’t ideal: "Not great, to be honest. We’ve got a few out anyway and a couple are touch and go from the previous weekend, we’ve picked up a couple of knocks.
"We’re not in the best of space for that but we’re confident in the group we’ve got to go out there with a strong will and strong work ethic to perform as best as they can for the team and that can hopefully help us pick up a positive result.”
Meanwhile, the Town Women U21s are in action against QPR in the FAWNL Cup at the Martello Ground, Felixstowe this afternoon with admission free to everyone (KO 2pm, doors open 12.30pm).