Reaction'Important' - Matt Beard's verdict on WSL victory over Leicester

Having gone three matches in all competitions without victory before the international break, Marie Höbinger’s 84th-minute finish secured success on Sunday.

Melissa Lawley’s excellent opener had earlier been cancelled out by Missy Goodwin during the second half, with the Reds ultimately moving up to 10 points from five games in the league this term.

Read Beard’s post-match reaction below…

On his reflections on the victory…

It’s a tough game playing against Leicester. I felt we could have been out of sight, to be perfectly honest with you. It was good to respond after their equaliser. I felt we were in complete control of the game really, Rachael [Laws] has had one save from long distance in the first half, it was quite comfortable for us. It’s an important three points because we haven’t won in the last two [in the WSL] and to see the game out I think was excellent.

On marking his 150th WSL match as a manager with a win…

Obviously it’s nice to get the win, whether it’s my first or 150th. But we’re just delighted with the team performance today.

On the positives and lessons to take out of the game, with Manchester City next up on Wednesday in the Continental League Cup…

Especially when we got in crossing positions in the first half, I felt we needed to do better. We’ll rotate on Wednesday. You could see players getting tired today, players that have come off have been on international duty apart from Grace [Fisk] but Grace had to play in a different position than what she has been normally playing in. We’ll rotate on Wednesday and see where it takes us.

• Get your tickets for Wednesday's meeting with Man City here