LES Taylor believes a first top half finish is possible for Oxford United as they kick off their FA Women’s Super League 2 campaign tonight.

A revamped U’s squad begin against Millwall Lionesses at Abingdon United’s Northcourt Road (7.45).

It is their third WSL campaign and they will be looking to continue on their steady progress from last season, when they came sixth of the ten teams, having finished ninth in 2014.

Taylor, United’s manager, believes it will be tough to compete with title favourites Everton, Yeovil and Bristol City, but thinks there is potential for an improvement on 2015.

He said: “You’ve got to be realistic, there are two or three teams who are stronger than us.

“I don’t think we’re in a position to get promoted at present, but we finished sixth last season and we’d like to be around about there, or even higher.

“If we could achieve that it would be a really good season.

“This year there’s no fear of relegation from WSL, but the following year there is, so it’s a great opportunity for us to get youngsters involved and give them the experience they need.

“Hopefully that will stand us in good stead for the future.”

A partnership with Oxford Brookes has seen the university take charge of the fitness work in pre-season.

It is a very different squad to the last campaign, with a mixture of young homegrown talent and new signings.

Of the new players to come in from elsewhere during the winter, Taylor has particularly high hopes for ex-Portsmouth forward Ini Umotong, who could be the answer to their search for a regular scorer.

He said: “She’s a Nigeria international and in the last two seasons for Portsmouth she’s got over 20 goals in each.

“If she can get anything near that it would make a difference.

“Last year it was shared out, which was really good, but we haven’t had a goalscorer.”