Aston Villa head coach Brian Sørensen has lauded ‘unique’ Missy Bo Kearns who brings ‘so much energy’ to the team.

Sørensen was speaking ahead of a critical weekend for his side, as Aston Villa welcome city rivals Birmingham to a match in the top flight of English football for the first time since 2022. The Halfway Line was present to hear from him when he addressed the media this morning.

Missy Bo Kearns brings ‘so much energy’ lauds Brian Sørensen

Missy Bo Kearns has been through an unimaginably difficult time of late, so it was a joy to everyone in women’s football to see her find the back of the net against her former club Liverpool. The Halfway Line asked Sørensen about the type of character Bo Kearns is,

“It’s really good to see her back and scoring, and I think also against her old, former teammates” he said as a smile broke across his face. “Which she in a moment there also was a bit confused with which side she was on, so that was funny.

“But that’s Missy, you know, Missy, she’s unique. She gives so much energy and you know can sometimes get lost in her own world. But she’s been doing really well. It’s one of those ones that also I had to build back the minutes to make sure that [she’s okay] because she’s been such a long time away.

“But she’s hungry, she’s energetic and and she’s progressing week by week. So so really good that she got that goal. It it also boosts her confidence.”

Sørensen says Villa have ‘a couple of niggles’ ahead of Second City derby

On Sunday, Villa will welcome Birmingham City to Villa Park and Sørensen was asked for team news ahead of the Second City derby,

“So you saw Jill [Baijings] last week, so that’s been super positive having her back” he explained. “We have a couple of niggles for this weekend, but yeah we’ll see how today and tomorrow goes, if they can do a quick turnaround. Otherwise we’re all healthy.”

The Halfway Line asked Sørensen for clarity on the fitness of Anna Patten after she missed a handful of match day squads in the past couple of weeks,

“Yeah, she’s one of those that has one [a niggle] but she’s back on the pitch, which is positive” Sørensen said. “She will do our individual training today, and then after that, we will see how [she’s doing] if she’s in the match day minus one training tomorrow, and then hopefully in the squad. Time will tell if if she makes makes it.”

‘It’s not so much about one player’ Sørensen plays down Océane Hurtré influence in preparations

This season, one of the stand out players in the division has been Birmingham City’s Océane Hurtré. Brian Sørensen was asked if he had any special plans to deal with the threat she poses,

“I think it’s like every other good player in this league, you know, you need to prepare on them and and make sure the teams, organization can deal with them” came Sørensen’s measured response. “It’s not so much about one player like trying to deal with it, it’s more about how how our defensive shape takes her when we’re high on the pitch, or we’re lower, etc. We prepare like we do against all other good players in this league.”

The Halfway Line asked Sorensen if his side can learn much from their 1-1 draw with Birmingham in the Subway Players Cup this term,

“Yeah, [it] probably depends on what their approach is” Sørensen explained. “I think if you look at them and analyze them, they changed a little bit in the formations from time to time, like how aggressive they are in out of possession.

“I think being fairly direct in their game is pretty consistent but out of possession, they saw London City in a back five, and they were more passive, waiting for moments to win the ball back where other games they, you know, they jump, they’re aggressive.

“So I think that’s what we need to see, what approach they’re doing but yeah for us it’s the same, we need to analyze in the moment what are they coming with and then find the solutions.”