Skinner left red-faced as pressure piles on Man Utd boss after Man City loss

Marc Skinner might have been better off heeding his own words, but hindsight is a privilege not a right.

"If you never want pressure, never come to Manchester United," the Women's head coach said. How the pressure has cranked up.

United suffered a second successive loss in all competitions as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat to rivals Manchester City in the Conti Cup group stages on Wednesday evening. United were awash with chances against City and there was a clear improvement from the insipid first-half against Chelsea.

A late injury-time goal from Nikita Parris following good work from Geyse da Silva Ferreira down the right stirred hope that United, top of their Conti Cup group, might snag a last-gasp equaliser and secure a berth in the competition's knockout stages.

Yet, as the final whistle blew, it was difficult to shake the evocative shades of United's loss to Chelsea over the weekend: ultimately toothless and predictable against a league rival.

Gareth Taylor's side, meanwhile, booked their place in the knockout stages of the competition courtesy of goals from Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp. Taylor, comfortable with the deficit his side at built as time wore on, opted to give his younger players a chance as United plodded on for a goal.

United's Conti Cup campaign should still proceed with results on Thursday likely to fall in the team's favour, though a new hiccup concerning an ineligible player fielded by Aston Villa in Noelle Maritz could have potential unfavourable ramifications for United.

Even without the additional chaos, pressure on Skinner has ratcheted up to fever pitch in a season that has fizzled and slumped in the shadows of the previous one.

Following a sensational second-place finish which saw United push reigning