Birmingham City loanee loving life under Karen Hills and Juan Amoros and full of praise for her team-mates

Coral-Jade Haines believes Tottenham Hotspur Ladies can use their ‘unknown quantity’ to their advantage when they begin their FA Women’s Super League 2 campaign at Durham Women on Sunday.

The Lilywhites geared up for their new chapter with a WSL 2 preview at Millwall Lionesses – in which goals from summer additions Hannah Mackenzie and Lauren Pickett ensured their pre-season programmed ended with a 2-1 win.

And the technically gifted England international now can’t wait to get the new term underway this weekend.

Haines said: “They’ve been in the WSL 2 for a while now so they’re known, they’ve done well for the past couple of seasons.

“They’re hard to beat and they’ve added some quality to their team – but I think as an unknown quantity, we can use that to our advantage. They don’t know what we’re going to bring so hopefully we’ll keep pushing and surprise them.”

The season-long loan signing hopes her experience of playing WSL 1 football with Birmingham City will stand Karen Hills’ newcomers in good stead – and is pleased with the early partnership that’s been formed with Josie Green, Sophie Mclean and Maya Vio in the middle.

She continued: “I didn’t play lots of games in WSL 1, but I know the tempo and the quality of the league and how hard it was. Hopefully with my experience of playing in the WSL I can bring it in, try and match the tempo, giving the standards of what I experienced at Birmingham and bring it into Spurs.

“Although the signing was revealed recently, I’ve been here for a while and I’m enjoying it, I think the girls are lovely to be fair – and so it’s been nice getting to know the girls.

“We’re already linking up really well, giving one-twos and being creative in midfield. There’s a lot to work on because I’m still learning their game and they’re learning mine, so hopefully the more we play the better our understanding gets.

“They’re really good players, they work really hard and they give me license to go forward. They talk to me all the time and they’re showing me how they play as a midfield, so I’m learning a lot off them.

“Hopefully we’ll work together at what we’re all good at – and we’ll have a good mixture in our midfield this season.”

Haines also feels Tottenham Hotspur Ladies is the right club for her development and says working under the tutelage of Hills and first-team Coach Juan Amoros will only make her more meticulous in her play.

She added: “They’re very good at coaching, their attention to detail is really good. If it’s not something they think is as good as it should be then they’re like ‘this needs to be better’ – basically they try and push for as high standards as possible.”