It could be the perfect weekend for Manchester City defender Alex Greenwood. Her side are looking to win their second trophy of the season when they take on Chelsea in the women’s FA Cup final on Sunday.
But Greenwood will also have an eye on Saturday’s final, where her hometown club Liverpool could keep their quadruple bid alive.
‘I wanted Man City to get to final as well,’ Greenwood tells Sportsmail. ‘That would have been fantastic for both of them to get there but it wasn’t meant to be.
Olympic disappointment provided extra motivation for Man City defender Alex Greenwood
Manchester City will look to complete a cup final double over Chelsea on Sunday after beating the Women’s Super League winners 3-1 in the Continental League Cup back in March
‘I’m very proud of where I’m from and who I support. It’s my family’s club so I’m always going to want Liverpool to do well but I also want my club [City] to do well. At the moment they’re going head to head [in the Premier League], I see it as being an unbelievable time to watch football and two fantastic teams going toe to toe.’
Greenwood has perhaps been City’s most consistent player this season. In a campaign which has seen several key players spend time on the sidelines through injury, Greenwood played in every single league game. Over the course of the season she has had four different centre back partners in Steph Houghton, Ruby Mace, Alanna Kennedy and Jill Scott.
‘It’s never nice seeing your team-mates miss games with injuries, it’s not something that you want to see. It was difficult to see your team-mates go through those moments.
‘Losing Steph was massive for our team, she’s the skipper and a massive part of the squad. I just had to focus on myself and make sure I was the best I could be and hopefully that helped the partner I was playing with.
Greenwood’s side face Chelsea in the women’s FA Cup final at Wembley on Sunday
‘Going from Ruby who is really young and still learning the game, to someone like Alanna who is really experienced and probably knows the position a little bit better with her age and experience and then with Jill who is a midfielder, I probably had to help her out a lot more than the others but these girls play for Man City for a reason – they’re top players and they know the game, they know how we play.
‘It was just a case of getting on with it, being the best I could be and trying to help the person next to me.’
Greenwood went into this season off the back of missing out on a place in Team GB’s squad for the Olympics. Despite being ‘heartbroken’ at the time, the extra time allowed her a full pre-season and gave her extra motivation heading into the new campaign.
‘I was so disappointed last summer,’ Greenwood says. ‘I was obviously going to be heartbroken to a certain extent at the decision.
‘But when I think back now it’s probably done me a favour. I got a chance to do things in the summer that I’ve never been able to do before, especially in pre-season. I got to work on things that sometimes you’re not in a position to do.
Greenwood credits Man City boss Gareth Taylor (above) for her progress this season
‘The club were unbelievable with me over that period of time, Gaz (Gareth Taylor) was so good with me in a sense of getting me in and working on things he wanted me to improve on.’
A slow start to the season saw City languishing below mid-table at Christmas but a resurgence from January saw them claw back third place. They also beat Chelsea 3-1 in the Continental League Cup final and have won 13 games in a row since.
‘I think we sometimes don’t get the credit we deserve as a club and as a team. First part of the season results didn’t go our way but by no means were the results reflecting the performances.
Liverpool fan Greenwood hopes Jurgen Klopp’s side can also deliver at Wembley on Saturday
‘Sometimes it was a case of bad luck, bad decisions and sometimes we maybe weren’t good enough on the day but that’s part and parcel of football. Since Christmas I think we’ve been brilliant. That’s credit to the team and the staff. We stuck together through our mentality.
‘The Conti Cup final was massive for us because I think we proved on that day, especially in the second half, just how good we are and maybe proved a few people wrong. It was something we always knew we were capable of doing but I don’t think many other people did.
‘We’re going into the last game of the season really confident and in a really good run of form.
‘Confidence is massive which is what we have a lot of at the moment. We’re playing really good football. We’ll never change the way we want to play no matter what form we’re in. It’s who we are and it’s who we identify ourselves as.’
With Steph Houghton still unavailable, Greenwood could well find herself on free-kick duty on Sunday and the defender has certainly been given some inspiration from best friend Mollie Green – who scored a dramatic 97th minute wonder goal to keep Coventry United in the Championship on the final day of the season.
‘I can’t lie, I don’t think I’ll ever hit a free-kick as sweet as that one! That was some moment for the club with everything they went through with the points deduction, they almost didn’t exist at Christmas. I remember the conversations I had with her and some of the girls were in a really difficult position.
‘She’s my best friend and I was so proud of her and I was so glad I was able to be there for her moment. I think she’s got the upper hand on me on the free-kicks, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to top that one!’