Albion Women Manager Siobhan Hodgetts-Still believes her side “deserved” more from Sunday’s defeat to Halifax.
The Baggies were downed by a single Eleanor Ashton strike at the Alexander Stadium, which condemned the hosts to their first defeat in five matches.
Hodgetts-Still believes her side can take the “positives” from their showing against the Eagles, and push forward into another crucial FAWNL Northern Premier encounter against Loughborough next Sunday (December 7).
She said: “I’m really disappointed that we didn’t get anything from the game today. I thought we deserved something and we started the best that we have for some time now.
“In the first half, we were brilliant and just couldn’t find the back of the net. After half-time, we got done on the counter, and fair play to them – they’ve had two shots and scored one.
“They were better in both boxes, they defended their box well and their ‘keeper pulled off some excellent saves to keep them in the game. We’ve got to be better in our box as well.
“I don’t think we deserved to lose the game, but we’ve got to be better in the box, whether that’s the selection of cross, or our runs into the box. We’re going to continue working on this.
“There’s always positives to take, performance-wise, we did really well. We dominated the game, had the share of possession and created some great moments – we just need to put the ball in the net.
“We’ll go away again and onto Loughborough. We’ve played them already and know what to expect from them, it’ll be a good battle so we’ll go away and plan for their visit.”
Defender Ellie McFarlane’s long battle with injury came to an end with a start in their Adobe Women’s FA Cup tie with Solihull back in October, 742 days after her last competitive start. The 20-year-old was thrust into the league limelight for the first time under Manager Hodgetts-Still against Halifax – an opportunity she says “means everything.”
“I think it’s disappointing, especially for everyone here,” McFarlane said. “At the end, our quality wasn’t there, we had enough possession it’s just that last bit that’s missing.
“It happens and we’re all disappointed but we need to keep our heads up and carry on working in training to put this right.
“It’s so frustrating when you’re in games like that, we had the chances, but to not get the last little bit is frustrating. It happens in football, we’ve just got to carry on and move onto the next one.
“I didn’t expect to start today but once I found out, you’ve got to switch onto game mode and get ready. You’ve got to be ready and I got myself in the zone.
“It means everything to be playing for us again. The journey has been tough, and with how supportive everyone has been – it’s been amazing to step onto the pitch with the girls.
“We’ll definitely move on from this week, continue this week in training and get the mood back up in camp. We’re hoping to get back to winning ways.”
