Crawley Wasps are buzzing for Sunday's cup quarter final clash with Oxford United

It has been a solid season for third-tier Crawley Wasps, who sit mid-table in the Women’s National League, and have progressed to the quarter-final of the League Cup, as well as the final of the Sussex Women’s Cup, where they will take on Brighton & Hove Albion later this month.

This Sunday, Crawley Wasps will face the in-form Oxford United for a place in the League Cup semi-final at 2pm in Horley, with clubs such as Ipswich and Southampton still left in the tournament.

Under newly-appointed manager Dan Logue, the Wasps are ambitious to win both of those competitions this season, and recent performances have filled them with confidence.

Logue told us: “The League cup is very important to us. It’s a competition that we want to do well in and go as far as we can. This is one of three cup competitions that we are in and I’ve said to the girls from the start that I want to get to at least one final this year, we’ve already done that and there’s no reason why we can’t push to do the same in this competition.

“Oxford are very tough opposition. They are a technical team that wants to play and dominate the ball. They are up in second for a reason. There are a couple of players that we need to be aware of but we are more than capable of matching them technically across the pitch.

“It’s great to be with a squad of players that have a desire to be the best they can be. I’m really pleased with the progress we’ve made, especially the girls' adaptability to completely change a style of play and what I expect of them in such a short space of time.”

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Wasps are captained by Ex-Chelsea midfielder Naomi Cole who is determined to progress into the next round: “We know we’re in for a tough game. However we continue to prove we can compete with the top sides in this league. We must go in with the belief we can beat Oxford, on our day and at home, we are a tough and top side.”

Tickets for Sunday's big cup clash can be found here with adults priced at just £5 and kids being able to enter for a quid! Tickets can also be purchased with cash on the gate.

Wasps Chairman Jack Ayles took over the club at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic - a horrible time for football clubs who suffered a lack of revenue streams as all football came to a sudden stop.

Ayles said: “Wasps have a massive USP being an all-female club and that can only be good for the future. We need to build some momentum and the fan base to continue to be sustainable at this level and to be able to push to the next level. We need to continue to progress our youth section in order to give our players the best opportunities to make it as a professional female player.

“It’s incredibly important we are a community club and the youth section is the future of the club and the sport. We are proud to have girls teams from the under-8s to the under-16s and we have definitely had an increase in sign-ups at the club over recent years, especially now after the second lockdown.”

After such a difficult period for local football over the pandemic, make sure you get down to The New Defence in Horley tomorrow to support the girls in their biggest game of the season - it will not lack entertainment!