Brighton & Hove Albion women’s first-team manager Hope Powell admits few positives could be taken from today’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham United and reflected on a below-par display.
Jane Ross’s second-half strike was enough to settle a closely-contested match, and Powell rued a defensive error that ultimately proved to be the difference.
She said, “I’m not sure there were many positives from us today, and I don’t think we performed well. The goal came from a lapse in concentration and it was always going to be a close game, which we knew from the offset.
“Credit to West Ham, they scored the goal and we didn’t. I am disappointed because we didn’t showcase ourselves today and weren’t good enough overall.
“It’s a harsh lesson, but we must do better. I think this is the only game where I couldn’t say, ‘I thought we did well, despite the result.' We didn’t do well and I am disappointed with the result.
“It was always going to be 1-0 or it could’ve been a draw. They were just more clinical and performed better than us on the day.”
Today’s match kicks off a run of three games in eight days for Powell’s team, and the Seagulls boss will use Wednesday’s Continental Cup tie against Crystal Palace to freshen up the squad before facing Chelsea next week.
“It’s always a tough game against Chelsea and the expectation is they will win the game. Our expectation is to make sure we perform better than we did today and make it very difficult for them.
“It’s about the work we do in between. We’ve got the Conti Cup in midweek, which will give others the opportunity to play, but we’ve got to keep working. The work we do off the pitch must translate onto the pitch, and I don’t think we did that today.”