Ellen White: Man City forward not giving up on title hopes ahead of Man Utd derby showdown

White says City's disappointing start to the season "pushed us together as a team"

Manchester City forward Ellen White says the club's hopes of winning the Women's Super League title are still alive going into Sunday's derby showdown against Manchester United.

Victory on Sunday would move City to within two points of United in the race for Champions League qualification.

"I don't want to rule that [the title] out because you don't know what could happen," said England striker White.

"As we've seen this season, a lot of clubs have been taking points off different opposition.

"I think it's probably one of the most competitive WSLs there's ever been, which is exciting, so I don't think you can rule out the title just yet."

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City will face United at a sold-out Academy Stadium on Sunday on the back of a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea last week, a result that ended Gareth Taylor's side's nine-game unbeaten run across all competitions.

United suffered frustration of their own last week, drawing 1-1 with Arsenal having led for the majority of the game at Meadow Park.

While the Manchester derby is still in its infancy, 32-year-old White said the rivalry was already "very competitive".

"I'm not from Manchester but I'm all in for the Manchester derby, I totally understand what it means," added White, who scored a late equaliser to earn City a point in the sides' last WSL encounter in October.

"We want the city to be blue. It's very new, it's only been the last few years it's happened in the women's game."

White came off the bench to score a late equaliser when City drew 2-2 with United in October

When asked which United players she was excited to come up against on Sunday, she added: "Obviously I know a lot of them from England.

"Ella [Toone] is a great talent, she's really grown and developed massively over the last couple of years - I've seen that at England, she's a phenomenal talent.

"Alessia [Russo] has done amazing things, she's come back from a big injury and looks really sharp.

"I like coming up against Mary [Earps]. We're quite good friends off the pitch, but she's a good goalie and for me, it's always a challenge, it's feisty, it's competitive, which I like because I want to get stuck in.

"But we've got all the fight and desire in the world and we've got phenomenal talent in our team, so it'll be an exciting game for the neutral and for both sets of fans."

Having finished two points behind champions Chelsea last year, City have been forced to play catch-up in recent months after a sluggish start to the season in which they picked up just seven points from the first seven games.

And while White admitted the squad went through a "down period", she insisted their early-season troubles have spurred them on.

"I don't think collectively as a team we ever stopped believing," she said. "That's why I love being a part of this team, we still have that belief and that togetherness.

"There was obviously a time when we couldn't pick up the right results and we had a lot of injuries - a big part of the spine of our team was missing - but we stuck together, worked hard and tried to turn our season around.

"It's challenging when you're not winning games. We never got on each other's backs - if anything it pushed us together as a team, and that's one of the reasons I love this group. We do truly like each other."

'I want to leave the game in a better place'

White became England's record goalscorer during the Lionesses' 20-0 win over Latvia in November

City's disappointing start to the season preceded a memorable period for White at international level. She netted the winner on her 100th England cap against Austria in November before becoming the Lionesses' record goalscorer three days later in the 20-0 demolition of Latvia.

White said she will always cherish those achievements but added that her desire to succeed for club and country was as strong as ever.

"I want to achieve something special in an England shirt and I want to win more trophies with City," she said

"So I'm not stopping just yet. I feel super proud of those achievements but you've got to keep moving.

"I still want to improve, develop. I think I get on people's nerves because I want to keep doing, I want to run around, I want to help the team and score goals."

Asked about the legacy she wanted to leave behind when she does hang up her boots, she said: "It does still blow my mind that I'm a role model, it's still crazy that people want my autograph and speak to me.

"I want to be known as a good person, I want to be known as being approachable.

"I want to leave the game in a better place, to leave the shirt for someone coming through is really important to me."

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