Yahoo Sports Bristol City embracing Arsenal FA Cup 'test'
Bristol City's FA Cup tie with Arsenal is a good opportunity to test themselves against one of the top sides in the country, believes manager Steven Kirby.
The Robins travel to Meadow Park on Sunday for the fourth-round fixture against a side that hold the record for most-ever FA Cup wins, with 14.
Arsenal currently sit third in the Women's Super League, while Bristol City are second in the Championship - level on points with leaders Birmingham - and have promotion back to the top flight as their main goal.
"It's one that we want to use as a measure to see where we're at. It couldn't be a better team to do that against," Kirby told BBC Points West.
"For us it's a huge opportunity to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the country but an opportunity in the competition - we won't be there to make up the numbers.
"We'll be going to try and win the game, see if we can perform as well as we can and see what we can get from the game."
Bristol City have a storied history against Arsenal in the FA Cup, having twice lost finals to the north Londoners, 2-0 in 2011 and 3-0 in 2013.
Kirby, who took over at Bristol City in September, said the game will be a good marker for the club ahead of the second half of the season in the league.
"In terms of playing games of magnitude and playing under pressure, we would just welcome it as another opportunity to get better at doing that," he added.
"We've got aspirations to go back to the WSL, so it's good for not just the team but the whole club in terms of us preparing and building towards that, and seeing where we are and what bits we can improve on."
