Vicky Jepson hosted her first pre-match press conference for the club, focusing on the emotions of the past 24 hours and what she is looking to bring into the Leicester game.
Rehanne Skinner was relieved of her duties on Monday afternoon following a run of nine defeats in the WSL. Vicky Jepson has stepped up as interim from Assistant Manager.
Tottenham are currently sat at tenth in the table, with Leicester sat at bottom place in 12th, both looking for safety in the top division.
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Rehanne Skinner's Departure
Jepson was asked about Skinner's departure, explaining that she is human too and had to deal with her emotions before turning up to training in the morning.
"For me, as soon as I heard the news yesterday, the task was to address my own emotions, because I'm human too and have got a lot of respect for Rehanne, I had to make sure I turn up today with a positive attitude to address everyone else's emotions, and then we've got to focus on the game plan, how we turn up tomorrow, and how we get those three points."
She went on to speak about her strong relationship with Skinner, describing her emotional phone call with her last night. Jepson explained that she wants Rehanne to feel like she has support around her and that she will go on to call her after the game.
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Wednesday's Vital Game
Following a poor string of results, Jepson is determined to start off her campaign with three points. Fighting to stay in the top division, this game is vital for the Lilywhites who are battling with a bottom-place team. Vicky spoke about the importance of the game:
"It won't make or break us, but it's an important game. It will be tough tomorrow. Willie Kirk did a great job with Everton, but we're ready for the fight. We've regrouped today and addressed our emotions, because they were raw this morning, and we're ready to fight for this club together as a group."
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Role as Liverpool's Head Coach
Jepson was Head Coach of Liverpool between 2018-2021, being the youngest coach at the time in the WSL. She was asked about the lessons she has learnt during her time as Head Coach, and what she can adapt on and learn from coming into this new job.
"I looked at myself and reflected, I did coach education courses and worked with mentors, I got my own mirror out to look at what I needed to do better as a leader, and I've come to this fantastic club and been supported to no end. I've also got a fantastic staffing group that are supportive to make sure that I can deliver in these next hours and days coming up to the best of my ability."
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The 12th Player
"The fans are the 12th player", Vicky explained. She voiced her opinion that fans are vital to the club's success and that the team needs as much support behind them as possible.
"You support the team when they're winning and when they're losing, through thick and thin, you support the badge."
Jepson encouraged fans to be loud at Leyton and back the players, saying that they need fans' support more than ever when emotions are heightened.
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Rising to the Occassion
Vicky remarked on the growth of energy brought into training on Tuesday morning following the changes made in training. The method was to address the elephant in the room and to express how everyone was feeling. From then, the energy was raised to provide a positive mindset to the players and coaching staff.
"The energy from everybody has been through the roof today to ensure that everybody is in a positive mindset, more driving up the energy from everybody around the players to help them keep on track and manage their emotions. Apart from that, the way that we approach ourselves tomorrow will be very similar."
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Match Information
Tottenham face Leicester City in the Women's Super League on Wednesday 15th March, with a kick-off time of 7pm. The game will be shown on the FA Player.