Manchester United Women will be watched by a record crowd at Old Trafford for their Women’s Super League match against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Marc Skinner’s side will play their third match at the stadium and second in front of fans, and ticket sales have already gone well past the 20,241 that saw them beat Everton in March.

Skinner said: “We’re up and around 30,000, if not more, and it was rising. It’s a good number. Obviously we’d still love lots and lots more.”

United marked themselves out as potential title challengers with arguably the biggest result in their history last time out when they beat Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium.

A crowd of more than 40,000 saw the visitors battle back from 2-1 down with two goals in the final five minutes.

With the contest taking place in the gap between the final Premier League matches and the men’s World Cup starting, Skinner believes it was an important moment for the profile of the women’s game.

“We want to get to a stage where we sell out Old Trafford as a team regardless of gender,” he said. “That’s what we’re working towards. I think it’s OK to work towards it and not expect it to be right this second.

“The more exposure we have, it shows the qualities. The (Arsenal) game was a wonderful advert for women’s football and for football in general.

“Every fan loves that comeback story, the last-gasp goal, the celebration of having the away fans together, and I think that was a big step up for women’s football in terms of having that designated area, because it felt different.

“We need to keep working at it and we’ll make sure we do our side and put on something that everybody wants to come and watch.”

Manchester United Women were only founded four years ago after growing criticism of the Red Devils for not having a women’s team and have made big strides, attracting high-profile players.

Skinner shrugged off any concerns over the news United could be sold, saying: “Business as usual, that’s the clear message.

“We are here to do the job of pushing this team as far as we can, to continue to look for recruitment, to continue to drive the standards. The experts will do the job to put this club in the best situation.”