Bunny is Shaw City can shoot down United at the Etihad

Manchester City hotshot Khadija Shaw cannot wait to face neighbours Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium later this month.

Ahead of the Manchester derby on March 23, Gareth Taylor's title-chasing side travel to Brighton on Sunday knowing they have a battle on their hands to dethrone Women's Super League champions Chelsea.

And while the clash with the lowly Seagulls cannot be overlooked, Shaw is relishing the prospect of boosting City's hopes of glory by shooting down faltering United.

She told her club's official website: "We're very excited. That game, the magnitude of it, hopefully a lot of people can come and support us.

"It's a big game... and who doesn't love a derby? We just have to focus on ourselves, we're in a good moment and very confident.

"We'll take it a game at a time but we're looking forward to that one."

City won the first Manchester derby of the season 3-1 at Old Trafford back in November, with Shaw rounding off the scoring in the 55th minute when a Mary Earps clearance ricocheted off her into the net.

And the Jamaica international, known as Bunny by her team-mates and fans, has fond memories of that clash.

Shaw, 27, said: "I remember saying to myself that I'm just going to press the ball, I don't care where it goes.

"Sometimes you find yourself in certain situations like that where I'm literally just trying to block the ball from going long and it ends up in the goal.

"We've worked a lot on our pressing so to see it pay off, especially in that game, helped my confidence."

It had been feared that Shaw, who leads the WSL's scoring charts with 15 goals this term, would not be fit to face the Seagulls but Taylor insists she is raring to go.

He said: "Bunny is fine. She's trained pretty much all the sessions we've had."