We Had Moments In The Game, Says Kirk
- LCFC Women were defeated by Arsenal in the Barclays Women’s Super League
- Friday’s loss leaves City in 10th place in the WSL standings
- Frida Maanum scored the only goal of the game at Meadow Park
- The Foxes face Chelsea at Kingsmeadow next Wednesday (7pm BST kick-off)
The Foxes came out on the losing end of a narrow 1-0 scoreline in north London on Friday night as a Frida Maanum effort in the second half left Kirk pondering his sides’ missed chances.
In a post-match interview with LCFC TV, the manager described his thoughts on the defeat, and believes that Leicester had the opportunity to gain points from the three-time WSL champions.
“I think they deserved to win the game,” Kirk explained. “We didn't trouble their goalkeeper as much as I’d have liked, but I think we should’ve had a penalty.
“It was a good performance. In what was my first game in charge of Leicester against Arsenal earlier this season, we lost 4-0 so I think [this performance] shows the journey we’ve been on, and how far we’ve come.
“The fact that a team of so much quality wanted to finish the game in the way they did by running down the clock and aiming for the corner gets us zero points but does give us some pride."
It was a first loss in three for City, having achieved a 100 per cent record throughout April with wins over Reading and Liverpool respectively, scoring six goals in the process.
The former Everton manager believes the players are playing with confidence and that this has led to their improving points tally. He hopes that this can continue when they face the current WSL champions Chelsea next Wednesday.
“The players have been fantastic, and have shown bravery in taking on instructions and implementing them,” the 44-year-old continued. “Even today, we started playing a 5-4-1 but quickly turned it into a 3-4-3 so that shows the aggressive and attacking nature that we want to impose on the game.
“Janina [Leitzig] has been fantastic since coming in. She’s a top goalkeeper and has added so much to the team. The penalty save was what the team deserved, in the grand scheme of things.
“We want the games to be coming thick and fast. The teams at the top have come into a bit of a tough patch in the calendar and we hope that Chelsea are a bit stretched come Wednesday night. We’ll work hard towards next week.
"We’ll probably set-up in a similar way, and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can bring to the game.”