Aston Villa women’s squad are ‘dreading’ playing in ‘wet and clingy’ Castore shirts ahead of the WSL season… after the men’s team complained the kits were affecting performances

Aston Villa’s women’s team are ‘looking forward’ to their opening game of the season due to fears over their ‘clinging’ shirts, according to football commentator Jacqui Oatley.

Villa hosts Manchester United will be shown live on BBC 2 on Sunday but players are concerned about how they will look in the strip, which is supplied by sports brand Castore.

It is believed that male players have complained to the kit manufacturer about the design of the shirts, claiming the heavy material increases their sweat levels and weighs them down during matches.

Their concerns are shared by Carla Ward’s players, who had hoped the kit issue would be resolved before the start of the season.

“They’re dreading playing in it for obvious reasons,” Oatley told Mail Sport. ‘No woman I know wants to be hot and sweaty and have their sports gear stuck to everything, especially live on television.

The men’s team has raised concerns because the shirts were soaked in sweat

Villa have four televised matches scheduled and this is overshadowing their preparations.

“They want to be the best athletes they can be and just focus on football. Instead, they have this problem in the back of their minds and they think, “I don’t want to get too hot too quickly and what is this going to look like?”

‘Women are often self-conscious. It just shouldn’t happen. Personally, I think these women need a different uniform to play in. However they do it, I definitely think they need to come up with a solution before Sunday.”

Mail Sport understands that a fix to the problem is unlikely in the short term as the shirts may need to be redesigned.

The women’s team would have played in their main kit for one practice match, but played the rest of their matches in training gear.

One of those matches was against Villarreal, but it is believed that training equipment was used for this match due to Spanish gambling regulations. Villa’s shirt sponsor is BK8, an online gambling site.

“They played in their main kit in one of their pre-season games and the players hated it so much that they played in training kit for their other games,” Oatley said.

‘The issue has been raised, but it only becomes really urgent because it is so close to the new season. “Whatever minimum requirements there are in terms of the WSL badge, the Aston Villa badge and sponsorship obligations, the company will have to come up with something on Sunday.”

Castore and Aston Villa have been contacted for comment.

BBC commentator Jacqui Oatley said the women’s team is concerned about the ‘wet, sticky’ kit