Mikey Harris said he was ‘hurting’ for his players after they were knocked out of the Continental Tyres League Cup on penalties.
Albion led at the break through Vea Sarri’s first-half strike but Kirsty Hanson equalised and Villa won the subsequent shoot-out 2-0 after Vicky Losada, Elisabeth Terland and Julia Zigiotti’s penalties were all saved and Geummin Lee dragged hers wide of the goal.
“I’m hurting for the players because if we’d won that game it would have been so good for their confidence,” said our interim head coach.
“We put so much into the game and it all comes down to penalties and fair play, their keeper made some great saves. It’s fine margins but I was pleased with how much we put into it.
“I thought we played well in the first half with our identity and deserved to be in front. In the second half we defended our box really well. They put us under quite a bit of pressure and got their goal but it in the end it is very narrow margins which has decided the game.”
Albion return to action on Sunday when they head to Wolves in the fifth round of the Adobe FA Cup.
“Three-game weeks are tough and the last seven days have been a bit of a whirlwind," Harris added. "I will review the game and see what I could have done differently in my role then we’ll box it off and start looking ahead and preparing for Wolves.”