City draw at Sunderland in pre-season fixture.

City Women travelled to Sunderland for a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly, as preparations continue for the 2025/26 WSL2 season.

Head Coach Charlotte Healy was able to give valuable minutes to the squad in a competitive match which finished 1-1 at The Academy of Light.

Both goals came in the space of two minutes in the first half. Izzy Atkinson latched on to a loose ball and fired into the bottom corner on 24 minutes to give the home side the lead. But, in an almost instant reply Ella Powell's cross found Rio Hardy, who slotted home from close range.

Healy said after the game: "It was a good test for us to travel away to Sunderland which is what we want our pre-season to be. It was another opportunity to rotate through our squad and to see the hard work of pre-season in action.

"We’ll look forward now to Newcastle at Ashton Gate next week in what will be our first opportunity of the season to play in front of our fans as we prepare for our season opener away at Birmingham in two weeks time."

Photo credit: Kasey Taylor