Doncaster Rovers Belles look to bounce back as they return to the Keepmoat

Doncaster Rovers Belles head coach Zoey Shaw is looking for her side to bounce back quickly after defeat on the opening day of the season.

The Belles went down 3-0 at home to Leafield Athletic at Oxford Street on Sunday, with a Daisy Clements double and a late Alice Rogers strike seeing the newly-promoted side come away with the first three points of the season in the FAWNL Division One Midlands.

And Shaw is keen for her side to respond immediately starting with Sunday’s South Yorkshire derby against Sheffield FC at the Keepmoat Stadium.

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“We’ll come in now and we’ll look to regroup, we’ll sit down and discuss the game, we’ll clip it and show them parts of the game, we’ll go away as coaching staff and pick it apart, and come with a plan for next week and I’m sure we’ll be ready,” she said.

“It’s not as though we didn’t create chances against Leafield, we had plenty of shots on goal but we just couldn’t convert anything when we had the chance, we need to get our heads round this quickly now and move on to what will be a big game for us in Sheffield.

“Next week is a different focus for us in the fact it’s a cup game, we’ll iron out those problems early on, we want to win every game that we can, our focus is the league, but obviously we’ll prep well ahead of what is going to be another big test in Sheffield.”

Sunday’s FAWNL League Cup game against Sheffield FC sees the Belles return to the Keepmoat Stadium for the first time since they dropped out of the second tier of women’s football, and Shaw says she will be looking to keep her side focused on the task in hand on the big stage.

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“The girls will be absolutely bouncing off the walls,” she said. “It’ll be massive for some of them.

“A couple of them will have had the chance when the Belles have played there before, some of them will have aspired to play on it, so it’ll be a great experience for them all,” she said.

“They’ll be buzzing for it but we’ll have to make sure that they all stay grounded in the build up to the game.

“It’s not about playing at the Keepmoat Stadium – it’s about the team that we’re playing and making sure we get the result on the day.

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“One of the main aims for playing it there though as well is to try and build the fan base up, get the Rovers fans involved in it a little bit more.

“It’ll be great to see and feel that buzz around the stadium and if we can get a good crowd then it’ll do wonders for the girls.”