Nikita Parris is hard to ignore as United 'continue to outperform opponents,' says Marc Skinner

Manchester United travel to Ashton Gate for a Women’s Super League tie against Bristol City on Sunday after successfully bouncing back from the derby-day heartbreak and pulling out a 1-0 win just days later.

Manager Marc Skinner was happy with their midweek Continental Cup performance against Liverpool, emerging as the victors courtesy of Nikita Parris’ quality finish. He said: “I feel she’s found that extra level of motivation this year. She’s a really competitive spirit but what I've seen here is another growth. She’s been more deadly in the box, more aggressive with her running and she looks sharp of mind and she’s thinking quicker than other people in the box. I’m so pleased with her.

“I think we’ve only lost three games since the start of last season in the WSL. Putting it in that context it’s a ridiculous statistic. But bar the Manchester City game and parts of the Arsenal game - where it was a deserved draw - we actually outperformed our opponents.

“We’re still trying to click, we’re still trying to get into the rhythm that we really wanted but I am seeing massive strides forward so I'm actually pretty happy with the performances even the other night. To come back after a disappointing result against Manchester City, to play Liverpool who are ridiculously hard to play against at Prenton Park. For us to perform the way that we did I thought was a really positive performance. So I'm happy where they’re at but we also know that we’ve got to make them points up.

“But I'll be very clear, it's making sure we focus on what Bristol can do this weekend, it's not about looking at those other points.”

United head to Bristol knowing past statistics are in their favour. The Reds have beaten the Robins in two of their three