Disappointed But Proud, Says Plumptre

- LCFC Women’s Ashleigh Plumptre gives her thoughts following Sunday’s 1-0 Barclays Women’s Super League defeat by Manchester United
- Nikita Parris struck for the visiting Red Devils at the King Power Stadium
- Making sure City are as clinical as the top teams is a main target, says Plumptre
- The Foxes are currently bottom of the WSL standings after five games

A first-half goal from England international Nikita Parris was the difference between the two sides on Sunday at King Power Stadium as a 1-0 defeat leaves City 12th in the WSL table.

Speaking to LCFC TV in her post-match interview, Plumptre said: “We were all disappointed by the end of the game, because we did feel like we could get something out of it. Especially the second half, I felt like we were on the front foot more.

“They had to change what they were doing to suit us, which we haven’t had in a lot of games recently.”

However, walking away with the loss was difficult for the defender, especially considering the nature of it.

“We knew, going into this game, that they were dangerous on set pieces,” she added. “I feel like we take pride, defensively, in our set pieces anyway. [To concede] one goal, especially from a set piece, is probably more frustrating.”

Despite a 34th-minute goal from United, Plumptre said the Foxes believed until the end. LCFC Women had chances to rescue a point and can take heart from their performance in front of a large crowd on Filbert Way.

The Nigerian international added: “We weren’t going to underestimate them [Man Utd] at all, and we did have an underdog mentality, and I’m proud of the team, because we put in a graft and, until the final whistle, we thought we could get something.”

With the only league goal of this campaign coming from an own goal, the centre-back says that they are working hard on their attacking approaches to games too.

Leicester-born Plumptre continued: “We’re putting more emphasis on that in training, making sure that we take pride in finishing. Now, just making sure we’re as clinical as the top teams.”

With chances hard to create against a side of Man Utd’s stature – and with similarly-sized opponents on the horizon, Plumptre says it is the conversion rate which needs to improve. Heading into a double matchday week, including an all-important league fixture away at Reading on Sunday, it will be vital for the Foxes to keep that confidence flowing, in order to get that elusive first win on the board.

“If we only get three chances, we want to put all of them on target,” she explained. “We weren’t as frustrated after this game, because the performance was there - so we’ve got to make sure we go into the next game not dwelling on this, taking the good from it, and making sure we deliver in the next game.”