Whelan: We Needed To Perform Better
- LCFC Women fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham United on Sunday afternoon
- Dagný Brynjarsdóttir and Hannah Cain both converted a penalty at King Power Stadium
- The loss leaves Leicester 11th in the Barclays Women’s Super League
- City take on Brighton & Hove Albion in their final game of the season this weekend
An own goal from Sophie Howard, due to an unfortunate deflection, gave West Ham the lead at King Power Stadium, before a second half penalty for either side confirmed the disappointing scoreline.
Following defeat to the Hammers on home soil, in what was Leicester's penultimate game of the season, the captain explained her emotions to LCFC TV on a difficult afternoon.
“In all honesty, we didn't show up,” Whelan stated. “I question the mentality. I question the passion and the commitment to that game. From minute one, we didn't show up. We didn't put tackles in.
Cain Scores In West Ham Defeat
Hannah Cain scored her third goal of the season late on in LCFC Women's 2-1 loss to West Ham United.
“We didn't look like we were confident on the ball and the complete opposite to how we've been training all week. We thought we've had a really good training week and we should've gone out and performed a lot better than that.
“It’s a real change from our recent matches, especially at the King Power Stadium. I think we display our dominant performances here and today; we should have done that. But we haven't so we can only apologise to the fans for putting on that performance.”
A win could’ve seen the Foxes secure their WSL status for another year, however with only the two points separating City from bottom-placed Reading, next season’s fate will be decided on the final day.
The Royals welcome Chelsea, knowing that only a win against the current champions gives them hope, while Leicester head to the south coast to tackle Brighton & Hove Albion at Broadfield Stadium.
No Choice But To Win At Brighton, Says Whelan
Captain Aileen Whelan says LCFC Women didn't perform well enough in their 2-1 loss to West Ham United on Sunday afternoon.
Regardless of what happens elsewhere, the former Seagulls’ midfielder is determined to end on a high, rather than hope for results to go in their favour, as they continue to hold destiny in their own hands.
Whelan added: “I think individually we need to look at ourselves, and as a collective, as it's now down to the last game of the season so we have no choice but to go and win at Brighton, and we can't come away with anything less.
“I just hope now that we can go and do it at Brighton, so next year we can put on the performances from the start of the season rather than wait until the January transfer window to bank on players coming in to make a difference.
“We've got one more game left and we will stay in this league. We've just got to make sure we do a better job than we did today.”