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Green pleased to get off the mark

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Albion forward Kayleigh Green was happy to open her goal tally for the season in yesterday’s 3-0 Continental League Cup victory over Charlton Athletic, and says the team are full of confidence for their upcoming matches.

By Jake Ketley • 23 September 2019

By Geoff Penn
Goalscorer Kayleigh Green

The Wales international reflected on the victory, and was happy to get the win despite a slow start.

She said, “It wasn’t as easy as it looked. I know we got three goals, but was it our best performance? No. We were a little bit slow off the mark, but we’re still unbeaten and we have extended our run – so that’s quite positive.

“No matter what 11 start on the pitch, everyone is focused and ready to go. It was just one of those days where we were a little bit slow. The pitch didn’t help but we can’t use that as an excuse, we needed to move the ball quicker.

“Fair play to Charlton, they came out strongly and attacked us, so in the end, it was difficult but we got the win.”

By Geoff Penn
Action from Albion's Continental League Cup win at Charlton

Green got herself on the scoresheet for the first time this season, tucking away two penalties and she explained how she became the designated spot-kick taker.

“Ini [Umotong] is normally on penalties, but it was decided there on the pitch that I would take the first one. She wasn’t on the pitch for the second one, so I was able to have that. We all discuss as a team who will be on penalties as there isn’t a set penalty taker. Dani [Bowman] was taking some penalties last season, we also have Ini, and if she’s not there, I’ll step up and take one.

“I was very confident about scoring. When I was with Wales I missed one, but I just needed to get back on the ball and take another one to get that confidence in taking them.

“I always want to score for my club, especially when you’re a number nine – that’s always what you want to do. I’d like to score more goals, but I’ll take these two and look to build on that for the rest of the season.”

By Geoff Penn
Albion players celebrate the opening goal

The 31-year-old then looked ahead to next week’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League encounter with Arsenal and believes that the belief gained from results stretching back to pre-season will be vital for the squad.

“We’ve all been confident and worked hard for each other since pre-season, especially on our shape and fitness.

“Obviously the results are helping our confidence but we’re starting to gel as a team, working hard and pushing each other. All that’s starting to show, with the result we had against Chelsea last week and the 3-0 win this weekend, we can go into the Arsenal match full of confidence.”