OXFORD United Women’s clash with Charlton Athletic will be a good barometer of their progress, says Emily Allen.
The U’s are the underdogs in Sunday’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round fixture at Court Place Farm, with their FA Women’s Championship opponents playing a level higher.
It is a role reversal of last Sunday’s third round tie, when third-tier United beat lower-division Billericay Town Ladies 3-1.
Read the match report as Oxford United Women beat Billericay Town
Allen’s long-range screamer sealed the win, but she knows Charlton are a very different prospect.
The south London side are ninth in the second tier and continued playing throughout the third national lockdown, whereas United did not train for more than three months.
Allen said: “It’ll be really good to challenge ourselves against a Championship side.
“We have confidence and believe that we should be at that level.
“It’ll be really good, not only to test ourselves but to see if we can put in a really good performance and hopefully progress.”
The winners of Sunday’s tie will visit Wolverhampton Wanderers or Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round on Sunday, May 16.
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