Proud Of Our Bravery, Says Kirk

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Proud Of Our Bravery, Says Kirk

Willie Kirk's disappointment with a narrow 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Barclays Women's Super League shows LCFC Women's development as a team.

2023-10-22T11:52:00.000Z

by Matthew Temple

Published

22 Oct, 2023

Proud Of Our Bravery, Says Kirk

Willie Kirk's disappointment with a narrow 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Barclays Women's Super League shows LCFC Women's development as a team.

Matthew Temple

2023-10-22T11:52:00.000Z

Proud Of Our Bravery, Says Kirk

Willie Kirk's disappointment with a narrow 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Barclays Women's Super League shows LCFC Women's development as a team.

Matthew Temple

2023-10-22T11:52:00.000Z

Proud Of Our Bravery, Says Kirk

Willie Kirk's disappointment with a narrow 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Barclays Women's Super League shows LCFC Women's development as a team.

Matthew Temple

2023-10-22T11:52:00.000Z

Proud Of Our Bravery, Says Kirk

Willie Kirk's disappointment with a narrow 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Barclays Women's Super League shows LCFC Women's development as a team.

Matthew Temple

2023-10-22T11:52:00.000Z

- LCFC Women were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City on Saturday evening- Chloe Kelly scored early on for the Citizens at King Power Stadium- The Foxes sit fourth in the Barclays Women's Super League- Over the first four games, we've made a statement, says Willie Kirk

After securing a point in a 1-1 draw away from home against Manchester United, Leicester returned home to King Power Stadium for only the second time this season when they welcomed Manchester City for Saturday's late kick-off in the WSL, having already tasted victory there against Everton a few weeks prior.

An early goal from Lioness Chloe Kelly gave the visitors the lead, which they held on to for the remainder of the game, but the Foxes certainly put up a fight on home turf, and the Manager explained how that shows the development of his side.

"I think you can see that the players are disappointed, and I'm disappointed, and that shows how far we've come in a short space of time that we're disappointed to lose 1-0 to Manchester City," Kirk stated. "When they're taking the ball into the corner in the final minutes, that's a massive compliment to us.

"We showed a lot of resilience to not concede more than the one goal. Over the first four games of the season, we've made a statement, and I don't think it's 'little Leicester' anymore - we went toe to toe against one of the best in the league, and we're proud of that.

"We never tracked the runner, got caught ball watching, and then a little deflection deceived Janina [Leitzig]. So it's really frustrating because even though Man City create a lot of chances, so did we. And then the second half performance was improved once again and I'm proud of the players with their commitment to a high-risk gameplan. But that's how we want to play and we've entertained tonight."

Leicester certainly had chances of their own; striker Lena Petermann being denied by Khiara Keating in the first half, while Sam Tierney saw an effort blocked from point-blank range follow a succession of corners, and the Foxes were somewhat unfortunate not have taken anything from their efforts against one of the league's top sides.

But while the former Everton manager admits there are points to work on, he believes the reason for the Citizens' clean sheet was more due to the away side's defensive stability, rather than Leicester's capabilities in front of goal, and knows that there is more to come from his side who travel to Prenton Park to face Liverpool in early November following the international break.

He added: "We caused them some inconvenience, we created half chances and at the end of the first half, the ball was pinging around their box with two or three corners and we could've got back level before the break.

"Sometimes it was about not having enough composure and confidence, but other times it was there and it was just about Man City defending well, but we could've been better in the final third, and maybe made some wrong decisions - shooting when a pass was on for instance, so maybe a little more care is needed when in possession.

"I'm confident that we'll keep this going after the international break, and get back to picking points up again soon. I firmly believe we will be higher up the table than we were last season. But even though we've already got seven points, and only lost once, we want to keep developing and achieving more."

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