It Shows The Evolution Of The Squad, Says Kirk

- LCFC Women drew 1-1 with Manchester United on Sunday afternoon
- Aileen Whelan and Maya Le Tissier scored the goals at Leigh Sports Village
- The Foxes remain unbeaten in the Barclays Women’s Super League
- Leicester welcome Manchester City to King Power Stadium this Saturday

After a long wait for the return of competitive football, the Foxes have started their 2023/24 campaign in impressive fashion, picking up points from their opening four games, at four different venues, in all competitions.

City made the trip to Leigh Sports Village on Sunday to take on Man Utd, four days after beating Liverpool in the Continental Tyres League Cup, and took the lead through Aileen Whelan before Maya Le Tisser’s equaliser settled the 1-1 scoreline.

“After the Liverpool game, we prepared knowing we wanted to come here and take something back to Leicester and we’ve done that,” Kirk stated in his post-match interview. “How we’ve done that though, it was a game of two halves.

“In the first half, we were a little disappointed at the performance. We weren’t very good on the ball, and we weren’t pressing like we wanted to. We were a little bit more conservative and I take blame for our preparation in that.

“The changes we made weren’t really about replacing certain players, but we wanted to bring on fresh energy and played to our identity in the second half which is pleasing.”

The Manager admitted that he wasn’t impressed with the first half display and they needed to show more determination in their pressing game to ensure they were good for a point.

“What I wasn’t happy about was the pressure we were under in the first half because we didn’t perform how we wanted too,” he continued. “The way we started the second half, we were good for that lead.

“But against Manchester United, at home, with expectations around them, there was always going to be pressure. The goal added to that pressure, and it got to that point where we were here and wanted to take a point.  

“We wanted to be organised, compact, we knew we would have to take bookings, and we got there in the end and it’s a very important point going forwards.”

Four games in, Leicester remain unbeaten this season, with seven points already accumulated in the Barclays Women’s Super League; a figure which took City until March to reach last term.

Kirk added: “It shows the evolution of the squad, the Club and me as well. We’re coming here and taking points. The fact we can comfortably take points is positive and we can follow up on our words from Wednesday night.

“I’m really pleased we eventually found our way of playing in the second half and it’s proving to the players that they are good enough to come here and take points. We knew games three and four were against Man Utd and Man City, so we had to take points in the first two games, and we took the maximum.

“That gave us a foundation to come here with confidence and with six points behind us so that was really important. Tuesday will be a hybrid session and then we’ll have a few days of really good preparation going into Manchester City.”