You Can See The Difference, States Kirk
- LCFC Women beat Brighton 3-0 in Barclays Women’s Super League
- The win at King Power Stadium is their first of the 2022/23 campaign
- The Foxes pick up two wins in a week following a cup victory against Sunderland on Wednesday
- Willie Kirk confirms it feels like a completely different environment within the team
Leicester started 2023 with a bang, and six points from two competitions, as they rounded off a remarkable week with a 3-0 success at King Power Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Aileen Whelan opened the scoring on Filbert Way before Sam Tierney and Monique Robinson rounded off the victory, as the Foxes reduce the deficit at the bottom of the WSL to four points.
Manager Kirk was delighted to see his side get the rewards from their performance, and believes it is only the start, as they look to push on following the positive result.
“We didn’t dominate the first half but did have big periods of possession,” the manager explained to LCFC TV. “There were spells where we dominated territory, in fact the stats at half-time showed that we had 43 per cent of the ball in their third.
“It was promising to see so much quality in the final third, and the goal came at a brilliant time. But the way they reacted to that goal (from Whelan) was fantastic and they got straight back at it.
“We spoke about the way they reacted to the first goal, and how we needed to start that second half with intent. The way we kicked off was intentional, to get on the front foot and be high up the pitch. I thought it was a brilliant performance from back to front."
City scored more goals during Sunday’s win than they had managed throughout the rest of the season so far, and the former Everton manager believes this is down to the new-found confidence within the team.
“There were four different goalscorers during the 5-0 win against Sunderland, and three against Brighton,” he continued. “We don’t want to be a team that relies on a striker to score all the goals, that’s good and it’s a real reflection of where we are as a squad.
“Janina [Leitzig] was excellent as well, and some of her saves were fantastic. I don’t think we were ever not going to win at that point, but it stopped Brighton picking up any confidence and any thoughts in their mind that they might threaten a comeback.
“I was glad for the clean sheet, but I was glad it wasn’t an easy one. A good display and the players are rightfully buzzing from that."
Kirk outlined the importance of the festive break, how he made the most of the pause in fixtures, and, along with his coaching staff, is hoping the team will continue to thrive.
“When we came back following Christmas, it felt like pre-season,” the coach added. “It’s felt like a completely different environment, and they’ve taken that into the games we’ve had recently, and you can see that.
“Anybody who has been here will have seen a marked difference and that’s the team we want people to see, and that’s the team we plan to build for, and there will be bumps along the way, but it’s a start. It is only three points, it’s only one game, but it’s an important one.
“It was planned, as soon as we had those games called off, it gave us more time to prepare for the games, and there is a real thick run of fixtures to get through and ideally we get players back from injury, and we’re working hard to make those other additions and hopefully it will allow us to keep the team looking fresh.”