Axten excited for the challenge against Wolves Women on Sunday afternoon.
The Adobe Women’s FA Cup returns on Sunday afternoon (2pm) and forward Rosie Axten is excited to showcase the potential within the squad as they face higher opposition in the second round of the competition.
Dan Lawlor’s side have eyes on progressing to the third round for only the second time in the club’s history - reaching that stage of the competition last season - but must overcome FA Women’s National League Premier Division side Wolverhampton Wanderers at New Bucks Head Stadium.
Despite Wolves sitting third in the league above and one of the sides tipped to secure promotion to the Championship, Axten believes it’s an opportunity to highlight the club’s ambition and create some FA Cup magic at the weekend.
“I love playing in the FA Cup. It’s a massive competition, where you come up against teams in the leagues above, where you can show them that you can compete with them,” Axten said. “Being the underdogs is also good, as it makes us want it more and we can show that we can turn up to their turf and really challenge them in the game.
“We have focused on it at training this week, but we will just treat it as another game, and do what we do well, and we will definitely look at getting to the next round in the FA Cup.
“However, we know It’s going to be a really tough game, but Wolves away in the FA Cup is a great draw for us as a club. It’s a chance for us to show really how good we are and that we should be in that league above. It’s going to be a really exciting day. I think we have a great fanbase, so I’m excited for them to all be there also cheering us on, it helps us massively.”
Axten - who joined the club midway through the 2022/23 campaign - is certainly enjoying her first full season at the club, netting nine goals in 14 games and is the club’s leading goalscorer in all competitions, and the forward has been delighted to play a part in a successful first half of the season.
“I think we have really come together as a team recently, so we have focused on that and the goals seem to have come in vital moments. I’m glad I have been able to contribute with the goals and assists, and they will only keep coming.”
“It was very good for us to have a good run of games in pre-season together, so we could get used to the new players and focus on this season, getting the club to where we need to be. The pre-season camp was also amazing, it really brought us together whilst playing a large amount of the game we love,” Axrten added.