Brentford Women play their first pre-season fixture on Sunday afternoon taking on FA Women's National League outfit Haywards Heath Town at Bedfont Sports Club in a 3pm kick-off.

The Bees return to action for the first time following the 2023/23 campaign which saw the women’s first team just miss out on promotion from the London South East Regional Women’s Football League Division One North.

Brentford Women are set for a tough challenge this weekend as they begin their work for the new season against step four side Haywards Heath with head coach Karleigh Osborne excited to see his side back in action.

Speaking on Sunday’s game, Osborne said: “It’s going to be nice to see the team out there again, we had a good break but it’s important that we now focus on the season ahead and do everything we can to prepare properly.

“We know Haywards Heath will be a strong side, but I feel these are the types of teams we need to test ourselves against as the National League is the level we are trying to reach so it will be good to see how much further we have to go in our progression as a team.”

The women’s first team have had five weeks to reflect on what was a disappointing end to the season as they were beaten 3-2 by Watford Ladies Development on the final day of the campaign, allowing Dorking Wanderers a clear run at the title.

Osborne sensed his side may have ran out of steam towards the back end of the previous season as the head coach looks to put his team through their paces in what is set to be a testing pre-season period.

He said: “There’s many positives to take from last season but just missing out on silverware on two occasions was tough to take. It was a gruelling season which saw us play over 30 games, each match bringing its own challenge and I think that may have caught up to us in the end.

“We want to ensure that we have the fitness levels to push right until the end and that’s the main factor I’ll be taking from Sunday’s match. I want to see where we are at in terms of fitness and how much we need to work on endurance during pre-season, winning the game will obviously be a bonus but I think first and foremost it’s important we get the group into the best condition possible.”