ReactionMatt Beard on Manchester United defeat: 'It's important that we stay together'

The Reds were beaten at Leigh Sports Village in the Barclays Women’s Super League as goals from Elisabeth Terland and Leah Galton just 80 seconds apart in the opening half were added to by Dominique Janssen and Melvine Malard after the interval.

Read on for Beard’s reaction in his post-match interview with Sky Sports...

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On how he viewed the game overall...

Manchester United deserved the win today and obviously it’s disappointing. There were too many turnovers from us. I said at half-time I didn’t think we were brave enough breaking out in possession and if I look at the first two goals, they come from individual errors. We've taken a throw-in and gone back in when we could’ve gone out and then two passes later it is in the back of our net.

Then the second goal we’ve gone long from kick-off when we should’ve gone short and it’s 2-0. I think we started brightly in the second half. I thought we started the game brightly as well in the first half, but the goals have just killed the game for us today. The third goal obviously finishes the game off, so it’s a disappointing afternoon for us.

On the second goal coming within 80 seconds of the first...

It’s something we talk about all the time. You can’t concede and then concede straight after. You’ve got to get back and be compact and do the right things and grow your way back into the game. Obviously it’s a killer, but the third goal finishes the game off when, as I say, we had started brightly [in the second half]. We’re in a tough moment. We have to show character and show resolve. I know the injuries are hurting us but we need to do better, especially with the ball.

On how much he is having to ‘problem solve’ with the amount of injuries in his squad...

We obviously went with a 4-3-3 today. I’ve said it before but I think we’re averaging 1.7 points per game in a 3-5-2, so we gambled today to try to win the game. We’ve got to make a few decisions obviously with the shape and personnel. We’re not going to get anyone back this week. We have one of the smaller squads in the division and we can only work with the budget that we’ve got. I think for me it’s important that we stay together and try to get ourselves out of what we’re in at the moment.

On Ceri Holland’s substitution and whether she picked up an injury...

It was more of a precaution. We’ve only got three fit midfield players and we’ve got Everton on Wednesday and then Arsenal next weekend. She had one [challenge] in front of us and then one on the edge of the box, so we decided not to gamble and gave Maddy [Duffy] her debut.

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