Howard Proud Of The Performance
- LCFC Women beaten 1-0 by Manchester City at Pirelli Stadium
- The loss leaves City eliminated from the Continental Tyres League Cup
- Filippa Angeldahl scored the decisive goal in the final Group B fixture
- Howard confirms there are positives to take from the performance
Having won their opening two games of 2023, Leicester arrived at Pirelli Stadium full of confidence, but were ultimately eliminated from the competition following a 1-0 defeat to Man City.
Filippa Angeldahl scored the only goal of the game, in injury-time, as Leicester were left ruing their earlier chances, but defender Howard believes there are more positives than negatives from the loss.
“We’re disappointed with the result,” the Scottish defender told LCFC TV. “We came to win, that was our aim, but I’m proud of the team’s performance.
“We had a quite a few big chances, and if we could’ve finished them then maybe it would’ve been a different game. But I think it’s a big positive that we’re creating these chances and that'll give us confidence going forward.”
The Foxes have only conceded one goal in their last three matches, and the 27-year-old believes each member of the team is working hard, which in turn creates an important fight for positions.
“There is a real buzz in the backline,” City's No.15 explained. “We’re working well together, and it doesn’t matter who is in the defence. Every day we’re training hard and fighting for one of those spots and we’re getting better with each game.
“As I said, it’s disappointing to lose but tonight gives us lots of confidence and courage going forward into our next run of games.”
Returning to Barclays Women’s Super League action when they face Tottenham Hotspur at Brisbane Road, on Sunday 22 January (2pm GMT kick-off), Howard reiterated how the festive period allowed for a change in the team’s attitude.
“There’s a lot of factors which have helped turn the tide,” she continued. “Willie [Kirk] coming in has been good, and everyone had the chance to breathe and reset over Christmas and come back fresh.
“All together there’s been a mentality shift. We’re not here to defend our goal but to attack the opposition's goal.
“We wanted to advance, but our focus is the league. Of course, we’re upset to be out of the League Cup, but there’s still the FA Cup and the league so plenty of chances to perform.
“They [Tottenham] have made signings, but if we turn up and put a good shift in, we’ll be ready for them.”