Every word of Renée's pre-Spurs press conference

Renée Slegers has held a press conference ahead of Sunday's north London derby at Emirates Stadium.

Our head coach fielded questions from the media on our local rivals, how Chloe Kelly has settled into the squad and another impressive attendance expected in N5.

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Here is everything she had to say:

on team news…

The same players are available. We might have some players coming back, depending on the session tomorrow and how they come through.

on the potential for Chloe Kelly’s second debut at the weekend…

Yeah, she's settled very well. And obviously she knows what Arsenal is. She comes from the club, so we're happy she's back. I think what she brings to us is her quality as an attacking player, but what she's also shown is her willingness to defend and be aggressive and work hard. I think she lifts our training environment as well, so we're very happy with Chloe.

on what she expects from Spurs…

Yeah, it's the North London Derby and it’s a rivalry and we'll both feel it. I think they will feel it and hopefully, we can make them very uncomfortable at the Emirates. But yeah, they've been performing well. They've been recruiting a couple of players, so I think we'll have to respect their strengths, of course, but as with every opposition, there are always areas to exploit, and that's what we're going after on Sunday.

on raising awareness for cervical cancer screenings…

It's very important. I'm proud to represent Arsenal, who take responsibility for questions in society. And I think take-up rates are low in North London, so I think it's important that we raise awareness around it. I'm happy Arsenal is taking responsibility.

on Tottenham’s players to watch…

We'll see if Summanen is available for Sunday and if they’ll have another midfield, but I think they will still play their game. She is obviously a physical presence in midfield, but she also had other qualities, like smart positioning and shots from distance, and they'll definitely try to replace that with other qualities. But I think every player comes in with their own strengths, and we'll see what they ask from their midfielders on Sunday.

on scoring quickly against City and starting fast…

We just think it's important that we set ourselves up really well in games, and it already starts in the warm-up. So that's definitely something we've been talking about. And sometimes you have to be lucky as well that actually you get the rewards straight away, because I think we always try to do really hard work at the start of the game, and then sometimes the rewards come and sometimes they won’t. You'll have to be patient and break it down another way. So we'll see what happens on Sunday and what our game plan is.

on what Chloe Kelly can bring to the squad …

We hope she’s available for Sunday and we know what she can do for us. I look forward to her first minutes for Arsenal and we’ll see when that is.

on the timeline of Victoria Pelova’s return…

Vic’s made really good progress, she’s been working really hard coming back and she made her first minutes in the Under-21s game against Manchester United last Wednesday. That’s very positive and a really big step for her.

on managing Pelova’s loading…

That’s all the planning in the background. Obviously, we’ve got a game on Sunday and an international break, so we just try to plan it the best way for Vic.

on the team’s understanding of in-game rhythm…

I think in both games [against Manchester City], the momentum shifts in the away game and the home game. I think we had a bit better control of what direction it shifts in the away game and we got ourselves back, I think we found the right tools in that game and don’t think we’re as successful in the home game when the momentum was on the City side to then change it back to us. I think that’s a big part of our game, so that’s definitely one of our reflections.

on Chloe Kelly’s absence from the Lionesses’ squad may be a positive…

We want the best for Chloe and I’ve spoken to Chloe, and she’s also said that she accepts the situations as they are. She’s just really happy that she’s with us at the moment – she wants to take every opportunity wherever it is in training or a match environment to try and push herself and find the next level and get a rhythm and play minutes again.

 on how the surface at Emirates Stadium will aid our football on Sunday…

Of course, we don’t want to look at factors that are outside of our control so we want to look at what we can do better, what’s inside our control so the pitch is not our control at the moment. On Sunday, playing at Emirates Stadium, we’ll know the pitch will be very nice and we look forward to it because it’s going to help our passing game and our technical game, so we definitely look forward to the game on Sunday because of the pitch, but mostly because it’s the north London derby and I think we have 55,000 tickets sold at the moment. We’re really looking forward to Sunday.

on how the team supported Victoria and Amanda playing in the U21s game…

I'm very happy, I think most of the staff and most of the squad were outside watching. Kick-off was 1:15, so it was straight after our training session. So, we went to have lunch, and then we went back out to watch the game. I think this is not necessarily part of what I'm building. I think the girls have been very supportive of each other for a long time already before I came into the role, and they understand what it means for the girls and how much investment and effort it's taken Vic and Amanda to come back, so they were just out there to support her, and I'm very happy with that.

on 55,000 tickets sold at the weekend…

We always feel very supported by the fans, regardless of numbers or home or away games, because we sell out away sections as well and it gives us something more. We really want to connect with them, because they they give us that extra little percentage on the pitch and we're also very aware that people invest a lot of time and effort to come and see us and support us, so we really want to bring something good back to them as well on Sunday. 

on the passion felt towards the north London derby…

I think from just a business perspective, everything, every game is important for me, so that doesn't change, and I think we have to find the right balance of we know we're going to play a very important game with rivalry, and a lot of people invested in the stadium as well. But at the same time, we also have to level that with the girls just need to focus on the task and the role they need to play on the pitch to be able to bring the best out of themselves. But like I said before, the connection with the crowd is going to help us lift our game. 

on a message to the supporters…

Just gratitude and I think I feel it personally that I feel supported, and I feel that they're really supporting the team, the players. I feel connected to them and hopefully they feel connected to us and what we try to bring who we are as players, who we who we are as people, that they can relate to that and that brings them something in life, and that that can be inspiring, because the other way around, they're inspiring for us as well. 

on how the Arsenal v Spurs rivalry has grown as the WSL has grown…

You see it in the attendances. I think it brings a lot of people to the stadium. There's probably a lot of people watching it on TV as well. So it means a lot, and I think especially for the staff and players that have worked for Arsenal for a long time, played for Arsenal for a long time, they understand what it means, and I feel that as well, and I know the history, so it's going to be a big game that I look forward to on Sunday.

on having a full week to prepare for this match...

We love to play games and we had weeks full of games where we only had one, two or three training sessions in between, so we are really happy with the seven day turnaround so we can work on the details, develop our game model, but also part of it was to make really good individual modifications in the week so some players needed to push and get more and other players needed to get less, so I think it’s been a great week and credit to the performance team and tech staff for working together and getting the right load onto the players in the last week.

on having the ability to bring attacking options off the bench...

Yeah, 100 per cent and that’s been a strength of ours, that we know that if things don’t happen early and things are hard in the game at the start, that we always can bring in new qualities, that we can tweak things and make it happen, so I think we’ve been very effective in the last 15 minutes of games before and that’s partially to do with the game changers and fresh legs we can bring on with quality. Of course, very happy that Chloe has joined us and that she’s an extra option in the attacking positions for us.

on Chloe Kelly’s availability...

You’ll know 75 minutes before kick-off but hopefully, she’s available to be in the squad on Sunday.

on whether she expects Chloe to make a return to the Lionesses soon... 

Well, that’s something I can’t control. Chloe’s with us and we want to make her time at Arsenal the best so we want to support her and drive her forward. She’s very keen to find the next level, get rhythm of training and playing so I think that’s all we can focus on. That’s what we do at Arsenal with her and of course players have ambitions to play on a high level for their club but also for the national teams, but that’s not something that’s in my control, so I’ll do everything I can to help Chloe at Arsenal.