Brighton & Hove Albion forward Kayleigh Green was encouraged by yesterday’s FA Women’s Super League performance against Reading, but admits the side need to be more clinical in their finishing.
The Seagulls created some good chances at the Madejski Stadium, including Kirsty Barton’s effort that cannoned back off the crossbar, but fell to a narrow defeat after Rachel Furness scored the only goal of the match.
She said, “We were unlucky. There were chances for both teams, but unfortunately, Reading took theirs. At the end, we had a couple of chances, we hit the woodwork but on the day it just didn’t go in the back of the net for us.
“We knew where the spaces were that we could exploit them, and we were working hard in training to do that. I think we got the tactics right and when we went forward we did it with pace. It was just that when we got to the final third, we weren’t clinical enough to take our chances.
The Wales international also outlined the aims for the final two matches, insisting they are focusing on picking up as many points as possible in a bid to challenge Liverpool for eighth place.
“For us, even though Yeovil have gone down, we are still looking to get the points we need to push up the table. It’s not the end of the season, we still have two tough matches left to play in West Ham away and Arsenal at home.
“We’re taking each game as it comes and we want to show as players that we have been lucky because Yeovil have been deducted points, we want to show that we deserve to be in the WSL. We’ve done well since Christmas, so we want to show our progression that we have made.
Green then assessed the positives the team could take away from the clash with the Royals and took time to speak about the prospect of playing at the Amex in next week’s WSL match against Arsenal.
“The positives we can take from this game are that when we last played this team, we lost 4-1.
Some of the girls have been on international camp, so they have got games and minutes under their belts there, and for those that haven’t been away, they have been training hard with Hope and the coaching staff.
“We prepared for that game as we normally would, and even though we had a few injuries we worked hard to put in a good performance.
“This time we’ve come away from home and only lost 1-0, and we were unlucky. We hit the crossbar and we’ve had chances, so we need to turn our hard work and determination that we’ve shown in this match into the Arsenal game.
“There is no pressure on us and there is a lot of pressure on them. We just need to play our own game, work on our tactics and keep on going like we do for every match.
“It’s the first time for myself, but some of the players here have played there already. There is excitement for us, we want to get a crowd in and see as many people as possible there.
“As much as football is about how we perform, it’s about showing people how big the women’s game can be, especially if it’s their first women’s match. We want people to come to a great stadium and show them that we are developing.”
Tickets are available to purchase for Albion’s final home FA Women’s Super League match at the Amex on Sunday 28th April, kick-off 12.15pm. Adults are priced at just £3 and juniors are £1. Visit BrightonAndHoveAlbion.com/tickets to buy yours.