Albion Women Manager Siobhan Hodgetts-Still believes her team can be “proud”, despite defeat to Women’s Super League Everton in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
The Baggies were downed by a handful of goals, which were scattered either side of half-time, despite a brave display against professional opposition.
Hodgetts-Still wants her side to take the positive as they look to draw from their experience playing against a top-tier side at the Alexander Stadium on Thursday night.
She said: “We didn’t want to lose tonight but that’s the quality of a WSL side. Everton are a top side, there are two divisions between us and the players put a top shift in.
“We worked hard, limited chances for the opposition. At times we were unsettled, but my team did well tonight.
“The message at half-time to stay in the game. It’s disappointing whether we’re playing Everton or another team in our league, three of the goals were disappointing.
“We spoke about that at half-time, let’s showcase what we can do and they did that today. They should be proud of that performance; to play against a team with such quality, we can be proud of this.
“The women’s game is all about this, every game, our players will stay and sign autographs, have photos – it’s all about inspiring the next generation. It’s been a great turnout tonight.
“I’m proud of the girls and the commitment shown by them to play for West Bromwich Albion. Their performance was one to be proud of.”
Captain Olivia Rabjohn expressed her pride to lead out Albion against a team in the top division of English football.
Though the result didn’t go her side’s way, the skipper believes the way they “conducted” themselves can give them confidence heading into the rest of their league campaign.
She said: “Everyone gave their all. That’s what we needed against a WSL side.
“We made it hard for them. We had about 15 minutes where they really showed their class.
“The way that we conducted ourselves on the pitch was fantastic, particularly in a game where there were cameras, live on TNT Sports. It’s been great to see the girls step up and compete.
“It’s always an honour (to captain Albion), the girls, like I said, made me so proud and deserved more than we got. They showed their class and we can be proud of our performance.
“We can take a lot of confidence, after last year, our performance against Manchester United helped us to kick on in the league too. Going toe-to-toe and creating chances against them will help us moving forwards.”
