Treble-chasing side suffer third straight defeat

Last season’s FA Women’s Premier League Cup Final hero Maya Vio says Spurs Ladies “will come back fighting” following three successive defeats – as they head into Sunday fully focused on winning their third trophy of the season.

Cardiff City put four goals past The Lilywhites without reply at the weekend, as Spurs struggled to find the type of rhythm which saw them to the FA Women’s Premier League crown.

And Vio is adamant Karen Hills’ team will regain their momentum by going ‘back to basics’, saying: “It just wasn’t our day. It didn’t seem like it was going to be our day from the moment we set off on the coach.

“We did not have the best warm-up for the match as our journey was delayed so by the time we were ready on the pitch to warm-up we only had 10 minutes.

“Although we didn’t have the best preparation, it’s not an excuse for not coming out of the races for the game especially after the first 15 minutes.

“I’m not sure why we couldn’t execute the game like we have done most of the season, but we’ll go back to the drawing board this week in training and come back stronger next week.

“It’s definitely been a shock to us as we were winning every game until we had won the league! However looking at the last three games that we’ve lost, we actually have not had a break or a normal training session since playing at the Lane.

“I believe our training sessions each week, which are targeted towards the opposition, are vital. I also think mentally it regenerates us to perform at a high intensity.”

The result doesn’t tell the full story as Spurs kept displaying the fighting spirit, if not guile, which has helped them to come back from adversity before.

And the box-to-box midfielder is looking for their character to shine through, adding: “This mentality and belief is one of the reasons we have been so successful this season to win the league.

“It’s the reason we won against Cardiff in our previous fixture against them, when Wendy scored the winning goal in the 96th minute – that belief is extremely important and motivates us right until the final whistle and we’ll use that on Sunday for the cup final.

“This motivation comes from not only within ourselves and staff, but also the fans that have supported us all season.

“It’s going to be extremely important. It will be a test of our character as players and as a club. We need to and we will regroup and work on aspects of our game which haven’t been as good as they have been for a couple weeks.

“I fully believe our team will use the losses to motivate us to win again. We’ll go back to being us. It was a strange feeling having lost these couple games and it’s not something we want to feel again.

“Win or lose together, we are a team and as a club, we will work hard this week to ensure it’s us lifting up the trophy on Sunday.”

The Lamex Stadium provides the final showdown for Tottenham and Charlton Athletic having claimed a league win and a trophy apiece in their four meetings already this campaign.

And Vio claimed they have been the architects of their own downfall and are motivated by last year’s success, adding: “I think Charlton have always been rivals with us and when we play them it feels like a London derby.

“They’re a good side so it’s always a battle, however in the last two meetings, I feel like it was our mistakes that cost us. We need to put those mistakes behind us and walk out onto the pitch like we have done throughout the season.

“I have no doubt that we will go onto the pitch and play our exciting football and prove why we were the team that went 27 games unbeaten.

“Winning the FA Women’s Premier League Cup final last year was a dream and I believe that win started the belief that we could accomplish amazing things together – it’s been evident this season.

“This cup will always be special to us, so we knew even before starting the season again that we wanted to win this cup consecutively to feel as we did last year.”