John Salomon is hoping for a record-breaking crowd tomorrow (Saturday) when Watford Ladies host Aston Villa at Vicarage Road for the first time.

With the Hornets’ first team not in action due to the international break, the ladies will take centre stage at the Vic for the first time and the Golden Girls boss is optimistic of a big following for his side.

He said: “I think we want to try and use this as an opportunity to change as many perceptions as possible and show how good women’s football is.

“With that, we set ourselves a target of getting 1,000 people through the gate, which is maybe a bit ambitious as it’s three times as big as our largest crowd in the Women’s Super League 2, which is 340.

“We’ve worked really hard behind the scenes to try and make sure we get the biggest crowd possible, we’re really encouraged to see that we’ve sold so many tickets and we urge more fans to come.

“That’s why we’re doing it on Saturday at 3pm, because religiously that’s when everybody goes to football. There’s no excuse this weekend as there’s no Watford game,” he added.

The profile of the women’s game is growing, with England Women playing Germany at Wembley Stadium in front of a record crowd of 45,619 in November.

And Salomon says any inquisitive first-time spectators of the women’s game will be pleasantly surprised by the standard.

“I think from people we’ve spoken to down the years, Watford fans who have come and watched, their perceptions change when they come and watch a game of what they perceive women’s football to be,” he explained.

“When they actually watch a game their reaction is ‘I didn’t think it would be that competitive’ or ‘I didn’t think it would be that good’.

“We're really grateful to the football club for giving us this opportunity, which we see as a fantastic chance for us to showcase women’s football, how much it’s progressed, how good the players are in terms of the technical ability, the pace and the competitiveness of the game.”

Tickets are still available in advance or on the day but there will be no cash turnstiles for entry to the Sir Elton John Stand.

Tickets can be purchased online, or on the phone and collected from the matchday collections window or purchased from the Hornets Shop tomorrow.

The Lady Hornets will be searching for their first WSL2 win of the season against the Villans after going down 1-0 to Oxford United in their season opener on Thursday.

Sahara Osborne-Ricketts’ deflected 20th-minute free-kick was enough for the home side to take all three points, with the Hornets unable to find a way past U’s goalkeeper Demi Lambourne.

On Sunday, the Hornets saw their FA Women’s Cup run come to an end as they exited the fifth round 6-0 at the hands of WSL1 side Chelsea.

It was 4-0 at half-time and although an improved second-half showing saw Watford concede just two more, Chelsea’s higher division status had been underlined.