Howard: A Perfect Day For Us

- LCFC Women’s first-ever Barclays FA Women’s Super League victory was secured on Sunday
- The Foxes beat Birmingham City 2-0 thanks to goals from Sophie Howard and Sam Tierney
- Howard outlined the importance of the win and the clean sheet to Leicester’s season
- City have moved off the bottom of the WSL, providing confidence and momentum

The 2-0 scoreline at King Power Stadium saw the Foxes leapfrog the visitors in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League standings, moving out of the relegation zone and hitting a number of milestones in the process.

As a defender, getting on the scoresheet for the second time in three games, keeping a first clean sheet, and earning a maiden top-flight victory, Howard could not have asked for much more from the final game before the winter break.

“We knew how important this game was,” she began, speaking in her post-match interview with LCFC TV. “Obviously, there are lots of games still to play, so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves, but this was a massive game.

“We’re so glad that we could put the performance in and get the three points in the end. Perfect maybe describes it! I think, more importantly, we put in a good team performance. I would have been happy going away with one goal and a clean sheet, that would have been fine.

“The main thing is that we put the performance in, we got three points and I’m just happy about the whole situation today.”

After heading home the opening goal in the Continental Tyres League Cup clash with Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village two weeks ago – netting her first for the Club – Howard continued to demonstrate her new-found goalscoring prowess with a maiden WSL strike.

Playing in a slightly more advanced role at left wing-back, rather than in the centre of defence, allowed the Scotland international more freedom to move into forward areas of the pitch, something which paid off to great effect 18 minutes into the contest.

“I went on a little adventure going forward,” the 28-year-old joked. “I think she took a loose touch, the ball was free, and I just struck through it. It’s one of them, either it leaves the stadium, or it goes in and I’m just glad I could get the team off to a good start today.

“Get me up front, tell the gaffer! I got my head on one against Man Utd and struck through one today. It’s paying off, it’s working now. But my job is to defend first and foremost, so that’s just a little bonus.

“I think switching between positions is a challenge, but it’s a good challenge. I embrace it, I enjoy it. I’ve got used to the wing-back position, I played it a lot in pre-season and now, with our formation, I think it suits my playing style.

“But I know I have the support behind me and around me to perform in that position and that’s the main thing.”

Howard’s effort set the team on their way, and it was fellow defender Sam Tierney who made absolutely sure that the points would be staying in Leicester, with a bullet header to double the advantage.

“It was massive,” the former Reading defender said of the second goal. “We noticed at half-time that Birmingham were only making us struggle a little bit through our own mistakes, so it was getting a little bit scrappy. We needed to control the game again.

“We had to focus on ourselves. We had a little chat that this was the first time we had been up at half-time, so we could play with confidence and use that our advantage. And then when Sam Tierney headed that ball in, it was massive for us to kill the game off.”

Discussing the significance of the victory, Howard sees it as a building block to push on further in 2022 and ensure that the Foxes continue to produce positive results.

She added: “It gives us a lot of confidence, a lot of momentum. We’ve got a lot of work still to do. We’ll work hard over the Christmas break. Everyone’s going home and spending time with family as much as we can.

“But we’ll have plans to keep fit and then we will come back straight after Christmas and then we hit it again. We’ll be ready to fight and battle and hopefully climb up the table.”