Martin Ho previews a trip to Goodison Park with a squad full of confidence
Tottenham Hotspur travel to Goodison Park on Sunday for their first away fixture of the 2025/26 Barclays Women’s Super League, and the opener in the new home of Everton Women.
Martin Ho spoke to the media ahead of a trip to Merseyside. With a team full of confidence, he looks to build on this positive start and return with another three points.
Team News
Regarding team news, Ella Morris and Luana Bühler still remain absent with long-term injuries. Vice-Captain, Molly Bartrip is also set for another week on the sidelines, unless the fitness tests provide a positive update.
All other squad members should be fit for the matchday squad. At Brisbane Road, Mathilda Vinberg and fan favourite, Ashleigh Neville missed out with knocks: both should be set to return against the Toffees.
Kit Graham made her return to the WSL after an ACL injury, which resulted in a long spell on the sidelines. Ho gave nothing but praise to the midfielder as she stepped on the pitch in the second half of last week’s London Derby. When asked about this special moment for Graham, Ho replied:
“We know the quality Kit has and we know the quality she can bring to the group, and we just need to make sure that moving forward we keep integrating her slowly and we make sure we build her confidence because that takes a lot for a player who’s been out for so long.”
A positive defensive display against West Ham
When asked about Spurs’ performance against the Hammers , Ho took several positives. One key focus being on the defensive phases of play and bravery from the back:
“I think probably the biggest rewarding thing for me was the way we defended the box, bodies in front of the wall, late tackles, big blocks, interceptions, good clearances, and we’ve got like a never say die attitude if you want to call it in front of goal, and that’s such a pleasing thing.”
With three points in the table and a well-overdue win for Tottenham, the head coach reminded what this will mean for the squad. Not only will the players grow in confidence, but Spurs’ identity will become one of passion and success:
“The confidence and the belief in the team more importantly, and to get a win as I said after nine months is something that’s precious to the group and we’ll definitely instil belief that we believe we belong there.”
How to approach an in-form Everton
In the Merseyside derby, Everton shocked the league with a dominant 4-1-win, credit to new signing, Ornella Vignola’s debut hattrick. With an away trip to Goodison Park, where the Toffees will make their competitive debut in the 2025/26 season at their new, permanent home, Spurs must execute their tactical plan successfully:
“I think the most important part is we have to focus on what we can control and how we defend in those moments, and I think we take part of what we did in the West Ham game in this game from a defensive perspective.”
Regarding the impact summer signing, Vignola, in particular her goalscoring ability and technical ability, Ho expressed the threat she poses to his Tottenham side and how they approach this:
“We’re aware of her strengths and what she can bring to the team, but we have to focus on what we can do defensively and use the strengths of our players to stop her and her strengths.”
The Toffees put on a dominant display: the head coach has analysed their performance technically and plans to prevent them from showcasing their ability on and off the ball. He is confident in his squad and knows they are capable of overcoming the opposition in Merseyside:
“We know they’ll be very dynamic on the ball; they’ll be very dynamic off it. They like to have the ball, they’ve got some wonderful technical players, but we have some wonderful players too and we have to make sure that we focus on those and have an eye on the opposition, and that’s what we’ll do.”