Arroyo verdict on Forest victory

FixturesNottingham Forest Ladies Vs. Aston Villa Women - Wed, Sep 23 2026, 19:00Head coach Natalia Arroyo hopes that Aston Villa's win over Nottingham Forest in the Subway Players Cup on Wednesday provides a platform for the side to keep building momentum into the season. Goals from second half substitutes Maya Hijikata and Chasity Grant ensured victory at The City Ground, Villa's maiden triumph of 2026/27. And Arroyo believes that there were lots of positives to take from the performance, particularly the energy shown by players who came into the starting XI for the first time this campaign.Speaking to VillaTV post-match, Arroyo said: "There's a lot of reasons why we are winning today. I think it has to do with how we played with the ball, how aggressive we were and how close to our identity we were. "So it's a positive 90 minutes. Positive win, clean sheet, first goal from Maya (Hijikata), lots of positives. Hopefully a good first stone to continue building. "It feels really, really good, especially (after) what we were talking about during the two days that we had to digest the Brighton game is that we are capable of playing these type of games, of winning. "We were just needing to react to the league and the challenge of this type of week with a good performance."As the Players Cup tie at Forest was the second in a run of three away games in seven days across league and cup, Arroyo made six changes to her lineup at The City Ground. The Villa head coach was pleased with the energy and intensity shown by the players who were handed the opportunity to start. "We gave the chance to some players that were not participating that much from the beginning. They played an amazing game. "(Rachel) Maltby back after the U20 World Cup, Oce (Deslandes), Miri (Taylor), players that were not playing that much or they were not starting." She continued, "Justine (Kielland) back in the team, G (Mullett) as well, stretching, stretching, making Forest tired so that when it was the moment for Maya, for Vangs, for Chas (Grant) and the rest to come in, they had a better game. "The more we make this a team effort, the more successful we will be. That's a long journey. We will need all of them."Arroyo continued, "The challenge of this Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday is how you manage the more than 180 minutes in the week. Trying to share as much as possible, trying to understand where each player is. "Then (deciding) the players that suit more the game plan and the type of game we were expecting today, and giving them the chance to show me that I'm wrong when I'm not starting with them. "So let's see where we are. But I know I will have a couple of headaches for Sunday against Tottenham. And that's good." Arroyo finished by praising the travelling fans, who were out in force once morein Nottingham. "It was nice to celebrate with them the win. So they tried to find a way of going to Tottenham and if not, next week, two games at home. "So hopefully they have energy and they want more from us. So thank you and hopefully they feel proud of us." Watch Natalia's full post-match interview with VillaTV below...