Howard: We Need To Be Better At Breaking Counter Attacks

- LCFC Women were beaten 3-2 by Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday
- Jutta Rantala and Lena Petermann scored the Foxes’ goals at King Power Stadium
- Leicester sit ninth in the Barclays Women’s Super League
- Sophie Howard stated it was a frustrating loss

Leicester failed to make the most of their chances on Sunday afternoon as they fell to a narrow defeat to Brighton on Filbert Way, dropping them to ninth in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

Following the game, central defender Howard compiled her thoughts to speak with Foxes Hub, stating that City’s mistakes have been their own downfall lately.

“I think it’s becoming a typical theme that we dominate large parts of the game, then we don’t capitalise,” the Scottish international opened with.

“We’re our own worst enemy and it’s become a theme in the last few weeks. We need to take a hard look at ourselves and be honest with ourselves to make sure we learn from the game.

“The biggest thing is that we need to put our heads down and work hard. We never stop working hard but we need an honest self-assessment. That means watching the game back, sitting down as a team to reflect and going again.

“We can't dwell on it too long. These games happen but we can’t let it happen anymore.”

Howard’s frustration was evident as the No.5 admitted that Leicester have been causing their own problems and that cutting these mistakes out of their game would lead to more wins on the board considering their quality on the ball.

“We’re giving away goals at the moment,” Howard explained. “It’s not like we’re being broken down and that is the most frustrating part about it.

“The way we play is very expansive, and sometimes it costs us. We need to be better at breaking those counter attacks down, getting those early fouls which is usually what we’re good at, but we haven’t been good enough in recent times.

“Every game is like a cup final, and that’s just what it’s like being part of Leicester. But as I said, we need to put our head down, work hard and learn from these games.

“It’s exciting to be part of this run of games now. Every game is important, and we want to win every game we play.

“We play well but we just don’t reward ourselves and that’s what is frustrating. If we were rubbish, I wouldn’t be sat here saying it’s frustrating. There’s positives to take.”

Focusing on those positives from the game, Howard spoke about the return of German striker Lena Petermann, who netted her first goal since injury.

Her last word was about the competition for spaces currently within the squad, labelling it a healthy situation that is allowing the Club to focus on each individual gameplan and prepare in the best possible way.

“Lena [Petermann] is a box striker,” Howard voiced. “I’ve known her for 10-12 years and it’s good to have her back. She still needs to build match minutes, which she said herself, but it was good to have Aileen [Whelan] in the number nine and then replace with Lena to get her goal.

“We’ve got lots of goalscorers but we’ve also got lots of different quality in the squad. Everyone brings something different, and the team that goes out will be built for that purpose.

“It’s certainly healthy competition, because competition can sometimes become nasty, but it’s not that. We work 100 per cent every session and whoever is performing best, or whatever the gameplan is, that’s who will play.”