Programme notesMatt Beard: There's always excitement ahead of a new season

The Reds welcome the Foxes to St Helens Stadium for a 2pm BST kick-off to raise the curtain on their 2024-25 campaign.

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In his matchday programme notes for the fixture, Beard writes: "We're looking forward to getting started and I know that we've got enough quality and enough goals in this team to win football matches.

"There's always excitement ahead of a new season and we're all looking forward to playing our first Barclays Women's Super League game at St Helens.

"All things considered, I'm pleased with our pre-season. We have two or three players who are still catching up on the tactical side. Obviously we work on that in training, but the full understanding only really comes in games.

"In week three, week four of our programme we had a really bad period of injuries where we had up to nine players out, which made pre-season a little bit disjointed from a tactical standpoint because we were having to change things daily.

"Normally I would plan pre-season and we'd get all the tactical work out of the way by week five or six and then it would be about match fitness and assessing the team. So we're a little bit behind on that but things like that happen from time to time.

"We had such a smooth pre-season last year, whereas this year it has been up and down but we're still quite happy with where we are. We didn't make many changes to the squad during the summer but the players that we have brought in have improved the squad.

"It makes for an interesting year because there has been a lot of change in the WSL with players and managers coming in. Even if I look at the promoted club, Crystal Palace, and their business on the deadline day, when you see the players they brought in, it's clear that there is not going to be one easy game this year. We're going to have to be on our 'A' game every single week.

"We start against Leicester City, who have always been a tough team to play. I have been really impressed with them in pre-season. I watched the West Ham game and it could have been a cricket score that day.

"Their new manager Amandine Miquel has got great pedigree. If you look at her record and what she's done in France, getting Reims promoted from the second division to the first and then finishing fourth, her record is impressive.

"Knowing the French personality, her team will be competitive. I worked with Kenza Dali at West Ham and we had a fantastic relationship. She hated losing and I got the same vibes from Amandine when I met her, so I think Leicester could be a surprise package this year. They've recruited well and they've got a good manager so it's going to be a tough test.

"We know there's not going to be any easy games, and we always try to prepare the team as best we can. I know that we've got enough quality and enough goals in this team to win football matches. We've just got to trust the players like we did last year and just let them enjoy themselves.

"Getting off to a good start isn't the be-all and end-all but it is important. I think the opening-day win at Arsenal set us up to really kick on last year. Maybe with the game being at the Emirates in front of a big crowd helped, but it definitely gave us confidence, especially the younger players that we'd brought in. They probably thought, 'Wow, this is easy.' But it wasn't and it isn't!

"Of course, we want to start the season with a win and if we can't get that, we want to get at least a point, but our ambition is to win every game that we play in."

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