Seren Watkins sends treble message to Cardiff City fans after Champions League bout

Without a shadow of a doubt, the team with the biggest target on their back heading into the new season are Cardiff City.

It was a season unlike any other for the Bluebirds, as they claimed the FAW Cup and recorded an unbeaten season on their way to raising the Adran Premier title.

The only blemish on an otherwise remarkable season was the defeat to Cardiff Met in the Adran Trophy, a game that still hurts many members of the squad, including midfielder Seren Watkins.

“For sure there were some things that could’ve been better,” admitted the Wales under-19 international.

“We would have liked to have won the treble, but we didn’t quite get it, and now that’s definitely a target coming into the new season.

“I just want to get that treble this season. That’s my goal, to help the team as much as I can and to get our hands on every trophy available to us.”

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With an unprecedented treble in their sights, Iain Darbyshire has been busy in the transfer market. In terms of outgoings, along with losing members of the U19 team, City have lost the services of Lily Billingham and Phoebie Poole to English third-tier side Cheltenham Town.

The duo were part of a strong core of youngsters in the Cardiff squad, and Watkins is saddened that both have departed for pastures new.

Watkins added: “It was really tough to say goodbye to them, especially for me because they were two of my closest friends. But we’ve bought in some new players and the squad is still looking really strong.

For all the departures, City have strengthened well, and have brought in some of the league’s brightest talents.

Amelia Forkings and Mackenzie Olden have joined the club, while midfield reinforcements have come in the likes of Emma Beynon, Kelly Adams, and Tija Richardson. Watkins is used to duelling against these three but is relishing working with them ahead of the new campaign.

The 19-year-old said: “The new signings have come in and everyone has settled in really well, especially the Swansea girls. We’ve had a bit of banter with them, but everyone is coming together nicely.

“It’s really nice to have them here. Having come up against them, you get to see first-hand how good their game is, and that’s made it a little easier for them when they’ve come into the squad. We know how each other play and it’s been nice being around them.”

All the new signings will be hoping to hit the ground running, especially as Cardiff are still on this long unbeaten run. Being invincible does bring its own pressures, but the Wales U19 international is confident her teammates will be ready for the challenge.

“It certainly builds the pressure up more because we are still unbeaten,” Watkins said.

“Obviously, teams are going to want to get a result against us, but that will only make us want to play even better every game.

“The pressure is what makes us all play well. When we’ve got big games, we’re all in the changing room hyping each other up, the vibes are always good, and it definitely helps us.”

This season might be the most challenging yet, with every team in the league having made vast improvements on and off the pitch.

Watkins has been in the league for a few years now, and she is amazed at how much the league has grown.

She said: “The other teams have got some really strong players in their squads, and everyone has strengthened really well over pre-season.

“You can’t really tell which teams are going to be up there, but we all believe in each other, and we believe we can win it all again.

“This will be my fourth season in the league, and comparing now to my first year when I was with Pontypridd, the league and teams have grown so much.

“The standard has risen so much. There’s a lot of young players coming through across the league, and everything has come along such a long way in four years.”

The fixture that, of course, leaps off the page for any Bluebirds fan are the games against Swansea.

The men’s team have lost their last four games against the Swans, but their women’s side are faring far better, as they are unbeaten in their last four against them.

“Beating the Swans is the best feeling ever,” she added.

“But we can’t get too ahead of ourselves. We need to focus on how we’re going to win and then, hopefully, we can go out and execute it.”

Those in and around the Cardiff City Stadium will be hoping they can keep their run against Swansea going and win every trophy in the process.

(Featured Image: Perry Dobbins/FAW)