An already depleted squad was hit by a further injury setback over the international break, with City skipper Steph Houghton ruled out with an Achilles problem and fellow defender Alex Greenwood also a doubt.
It makes a stern test away to Jonas Eidevall’s Gunners all the more difficult, as City look for a positive response from previous defeats against Real Madrid and Tottenham respectively.
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Nonetheless, Taylor is confident that his players have what it takes to come out fighting against an Arsenal side who have won all six of their competitive matches so far this campaign.
Asked whether his team had developed a siege mentality to overcome a tough spell, the City boss said: “It comes from all of us. I think when you have trying times and have your backs against the wall, that’s when you see what people are about.
“When the going gets tough you’ve got one or two options - what are you going to do? It’s great when you hear that the players have got that mentality, I certainly have.
“We can harp on about our injury situation, the game scheduling, all of these things but at the end of the day we want to go out and be successful.
“We understand that there’ll be a high volume of games at times, particularly if you don’t have huge player availability.
“(But) it’s in these moments when you really find out about yourself.
“It’s exciting, I enjoy the challenge, the players enjoy the challenge and we’re looking forward to this big challenge we have on Sunday.”
Listen to Gareth Taylor’s pre-Arsenal press conference in full via the video above…
