Smith Immensely Proud To Make Full Debut
- Mackenzie Smith made her LCFC Women bow against Manchester City
- The 16-year-old’s full debut came in Wednesday’s FA Cup Quarter-Final
- She had previously made two appearances from the bench in the WSL
- The midfielder described it as an ‘amazing opportunity’ at such a young age
The Foxes were defeated by Manchester City in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup Quarter-Final on Wednesday evening, knocked out of the 2020/21 competition following a 6-0 defeat.
After featuring as a substitute against Manchester United and West Ham United, the 16-year-old was involved from the off at Academy Stadium, playing 62 minutes before being replaced by Hannah Cain.
And although the result did not go Leicester’s way, it was still a proud moment for the midfielder to start the game, coming up against seasoned internationals, and she was keen to soak it all in.
The Academy graduate told LCFC TV after full-time: “It’s just an amazing opportunity to even be part of it and at 16 as well, I feel very privileged to be in the position I am. I’m just grateful for the experience to even be on the pitch in an FA Cup Quarter-Final.
“First half, I don’t think it could have gone any better, if I’m honest. We held our shape well, we had a really good half, it was solid. It was definitely a tough one but I enjoyed it so much.”
While the Citizens scored a flurry of second-half goals, the visitors had headed into the break with the scores level, a demonstration of the effectiveness of the system they deployed. But in the end, the home side’s quality shone through, showing why Gareth Taylor's side are the current FA Cup holders.
“Training on Monday and Tuesday, we didn’t have long on the shape, but what we did do, it really showed in the first half,” Smith explained.
“The shape worked, we stopped them getting any goals in the first half. Yes, they might have got a few crosses in, but they didn’t get anything from it, so our shape really helped us out in that first half.
“Man City, they are just a different class to be honest, the way they keep the ball, it's just very hard to keep them out and in the end they broke us down but we did well.”