- LCFC Women were knocked out of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup at the weekend
- Reading beat the Foxes 3-2 on penalties at Pirelli Stadium
- Jemma Purfield and Hannah Cain scored the goals in a 2-2 draw
- Willie Kirk says there were chances to put the game to bed
City were pushed all the way in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup Fourth Round match against Reading but failed to convert enough of their spot-kicks to earn a spot in the next round.
Jemma Purfield floated a free-kick all the way into the net to equalise in the first half, before Hannah Cain looked to give Leicester the win with a goal four minutes into extra-time.
However, with the scores still level, the result was settled through a penalty shootout, and it was Reading ‘keeper Grace Moloney who was the hero on the night, saving three penalties to send the Royals through.
“After 120 minutes, you must separate the teams someway,” Willie Kirk told LCFC TV. “We probably should’ve settled the game in the normal time, so it’s a lottery with penalties.
“We’re not going to over analyse that too much. We’ll focus on the game and the fact that we did enough to go through.
“We worked so hard to come from a goal behind and take the lead in extra-time. We created bright openings that we didn’t capitalise on enough, and there were chances to put the game to bed.
“For their second goal there was confusion. That was disappointing, and I think the players took a little while to get over that turnover, and they looked like they just lost the game rather than being level and still in it.”
After Cain’s goal, there was a moment of confusion to allow Reading back into the game, as captain Emma Mukandi picked up on a loose ball in the box to level the scores.
“I’m not quite sure what it was and why our heads dropped so much,” the manager continued. “But it’s something we’ll look at and turn it into a positive so that we can respond better after conceding.
“The players just looked a little dejected, and forgot we still had 15 minutes to play. But they put a lot of hard work and effort into the game. There’s proof that our conditioning has improved, and a lot of our play was good.
“There was impressive link-up play with plenty of entries into the box, but we could’ve been a bit more clinical with those chances.”
One positive from Sunday night was that new signing Ruby Mace played the majority of the cup game and managed to show what she can add to the team to her new manager.
Kirk added: “You could see that Ruby had only had one session with us, but it was nice to get her around the park as she can’t play next week against her parent club, so it was important to get minutes for her.
“I thought Ruby grew into the game. It’s always difficult to find space in the middle of the park, so we’d like to get her on the ball a little bit more, but I was satisfied with her debut.”
Now eliminated from all other competitions, the Foxes turn all their efforts to the Barclays Women’s Super League as they welcome Manchester City to King Power Stadium on Saturday (11:30am GMT kick-off).
“Even though it’s only been a couple of months, and we’ve only had one transfer window, I do feel like it’s my squad,” the former Everton manger explained. “I think the business we’ve done has been good, and I’m happy with the ins and outs we’ve made.
“I think we’re in a good place for the second half of the season, and today was a little speed bump. That’s all it was, but we’ll be back in training Tuesday and ready to go against Man City.”