SWINDON Town Ladies manager Steve Robertson says his side won’t be overawed when they kick off their season against Charlton Athletic Women on Sunday but knows they face an uphill battle to get anything out of the game.

Town were promoted to the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division last season but have been handed a daunting opening day task when they travel to south east London.

Charlton, managed by former player Paul Mortimer, were runners-up to Brighton & Hove Albion WFC last term and are unbeaten at home since May 2015 but Robertson is not concerned with the result they get as long as they get the performance right.

“It is pretty exciting and we’re going into the unknown a little bit,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to the new challenge and I just hope that we can put in a good performance to give us a bit of confidence for the rest of the season.

“We know we are probably going to be playing against one of the main contenders, or they’ll at least be going for the top two again.

“We’d rather get the bigger games out of the way first so we can test ourselves against the top end of the league and know where we stand.

“It is always a risk if we go in and take a battering or it doesn’t go as well as it should go but the girls fully understand how hard it was to get to the level they are at now and it is about trying to maintain that.

“We have told them it is not the result we are interested in on Sunday, it is the performance.”

When Charlton’s men’s side were relegated from the Premier League, their ladies side was controversially disbanded before being resurrected in 2007 and is now controlled by the Charlton Community Trust.

That backing, which has included a lucrative sponsorship deal, has been vital to Charlton re-finding their feet and Robertson says that positive steps are being taken between themselves and Swindon Town when it comes to supporting the women’s arm of the club.

“It does make a big difference when you do get such a big backing,” he added.

“We are quite lucky at the moment, we seem to be building up a bit of a relationship with the main football club now.

“We are hopeful that through the season that will get better.”