KOSOVARE ASLLANI is confident there are “big things ahead” for London City Lionesses as the team gear up for Sunday’s Women’s Championship promotion decider at Birmingham.

The battle to claim top spot and ascend to the Women’s Super League is going down to a last-day, winner-takes-all clash at St Andrew’s, where a draw would suffice for the visitors, currently two points better off than second-placed Birmingham.

London City, formed in 2019 when Millwall’s women’s team hierarchy became independent of the club, in 2023 were acquired by US businesswoman Michele Kang.

Last summer they made former Paris St Germain boss Jocelyn Precheur head coach and signed Sweden international Asllani, relocated to Bromley’s Hayes Lane stadium, and purchased and began upgrading their training ground.

Asllani told the PA news agency: “Our full focus right now is the game on Sunday. Promotion is the number one goal right now.

“After that, working with Michele, with her ambitions, it’s never going to be ‘we are satisfied being a mid-table team’. The team will want to aim for the top as fast as possible.

“She’s rewriting the rules. I think this is really good for women’s football in England, someone challenging the normal standards or the rules that’s always been there.

“Anything can happen when you have someone that believes in a project and understands the investments and giving us the best resources to succeed. Big things are ahead of this team.”

The 35-year-old former PSG, Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan midfielder had the option to go to Champions League teams and admits joining London City to play second-tier football for the first time was a “risk.”

She followed her “gut,” feeling Kang’s vision “aligns with everything I stand for,” and says she is feeling “confident with my decision” heading into the weekend’s showdown.

November’s reverse fixture saw London City beaten 2-1 by Amy Merricks’s Birmingham.

Birmingham are a team who also came under US ownership not long ago, with Tom Wagner taking control of the club in 2023.

They were relegated in 2022, a year on from players raising a series of complaints to the board regarding team conditions.

Skipper Christie Harrison-Murray, with the club since 2020, said of the difference between those years and now: “It’s night and day. We have what we need to succeed.

“It’s amazing to see it come out the other side and pushing for promotion and getting the club back to that top side, after a rich history.

“I think you can see with the resources and support from the new ownership, they have a vision of where they see Birmingham being long-term, and that’s so exciting for anybody involved.

“[The WSL] is where we want to be, we’re doing everything possible to try to get there, and we’ve got one more hurdle on Sunday.”