ColumnMatt Beard on lessons from Arsenal loss and staying focused

While it was of course disappointing to lose 4-0 to Arsenal last Sunday, there are positives we can take from our overall performance.

We learned a lot. We were playing one of the best teams not only in our country but Europe as well. We tried to hit them on the counter-attack because they are quite expansive the way they play, and I felt in the first half we did that but we just couldn’t take our chances.

I wanted to see different pictures out there on the pitch and see a different side to our team, and we can utilise those lessons going into this run-in now in the FA Women’s Championship because we have got a really tough run-in and we have everybody in the top half of the table to play.

I don’t think 4-0 was a fair reflection of the game but Katie McCabe’s goal was unbelievable. Their last goal was offside and I thought in the first half we did create some good chances when maybe we could and should have scored.

Overall, we can be proud that we went toe-to-toe with a team like Arsenal and did well. When we went through the statistics with the players this week we were pretty much on 50-50 terms with them, except for the fact they got more shots on target than we did.

There was lots we learned and we can definitely take that into our run-in now, which will help us deal with certain situations we may face. We will know how to deal with that now and hopefully this will help us fulfil our target of winning this division.

We have a nine-point lead at the top of the FA Women’s Championship with seven games to go, but we certainly are not taking anything for granted.

We travel to London City Lionesses on Sunday, who beat us on the opening day of the season at Prenton Park. This is going to be a tough game. What really impresses me about London City Lionesses is they never give up and, to be honest, they probably deserved to draw with Bristol City in their last game.

It’s not going to be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination. We have done well away from home this season so we will be going there trying to win this game.

We have just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We’ve got to stay focused and we’ve got to concentrate. Ultimately, the pressure is on Bristol City and the pressure is on London City Lionesses and Charlton Athletic because they have to keep winning games.

We have to play Charlton twice and Bristol City away and these teams have to beat us because that means they can narrow the gap on us, so I’m expecting these teams will have a go at us and try to beat us, so from our perspective we have to be prepared for that.

We have been consistent for a long time now and we’ve just got to continue what we are doing. Like I say to the girls after every game, and on every Tuesday, keep your feet on the ground, work hard on the training pitch, which they do, and let’s translate that to a Sunday. So, my message is always the same.

People have to understand we are getting to the business end of the season now. There’s going to be nerves from us and also nerves from the opposition.

But I’m confident with the position that we are in that we will be able to cope with that, so we have just got to keep working hard, keep our heads down and just keep focusing game by game.

Thanks so much for your support as always.

YNWA,

Matt

Matt Beard was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter