LFC WomenMatt Beard on Chelsea FA Cup loss and Shanice van de Sanden injury

Ceri Holland and Gemma Bonner were on the mark for the Reds, but Australian forward Sam Kerr proved to be the main difference as she netted a hat-trick for the home side at Kingsmeadow.

Read on as Beard gives his thoughts on the game and provides an injury update on winger Shanice van de Sanden…

On his reaction to the game overall…

I was frustrated with a few things. For Chelsea’s second goal there was a foul on Ceri Holland in the build-up, and the third goal there was also a foul on Ceri. I felt we should have had a penalty for a handball, so that was frustrating. Still, we’ve got to do better defending the crosses because Sam is such a good finisher.

We can take a lot of confidence and positivity, especially from our second-half performance. We just looked scared in the first half and that was frustrating because we have trained really well in the week. That was our Achilles heel in the first half, but I thought it was a good cup tie, a good game and congratulations to Chelsea and good luck to them in the next round.

On making a double change just before the hour mark which improved the performance…

We changed our system and went to a 3-5-2 and we were a bit more aggressive. We gave a really good account of ourselves in the second half and made it a good cup tie. We put Mel Lawley a bit more central and she caused them a lot of problems and she nearly scored right at the end when their 'keeper made a good save.

On how he assesses his squad so far this season…

I don’t think we are a million miles away from the top sides. This is a tough league and we probably got the toughest draw in the FA Cup. We have got two home games now against Reading and Leicester City – two massive games for us. For the most part of the season, I’ve been pleased with what we have produced and how we have progressed, apart from Manchester United away and Everton at Anfield, when we were poor.

On Shanice van de Sanden's injury…

Unfortunately, we have lost Shanice for anywhere up to two months, which is a massive blow. We are looking for another attacking player if we can get someone in before the window closes. It’s a tough position to fill in January. We are hopeful we can get one in, but if we can’t then we will work with what we’ve got.