ReactionMatt Beard's verdict on Leicester City 2-1 Liverpool FC Women

Olivia Smith had put the Reds ahead after three minutes at King Power Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

But responses later in the first half from Janice Cayman and Missy Goodwin saw the hosts turn the contest around to claim victory.

See what Beard told reporters after the game...

• Read our match report from King Power Stadium

On the defeat...

Obviously a good start. Smithy has gambled and whether it's a bit of luck or not, obviously she's put the goalkeeper under pressure and got the goal. But then I thought we lost control of the game after that, which is frustrating. I guess that first half has cost us the game today, to be perfectly honest. I think we've had enough chances today to convert more than one goal.

It's a frustrating afternoon for numerous reasons but we were just not at it [in the] first half and then it's tough when you're playing teams, like Leicester, that are fighting for their lives. I said before the game to the players, they are fighting for everything, so we've got to make sure we outfight them and outwork them – and I don't think we did that in the first half. I thought we controlled the second half completely. We just needed a little bit more composure in certain moments at certain times today.

On going in at half-time 2-1 down...

The two goals were poor. One has come from a set-play and the second one has come from our throw. There were many things in the first half that I wasn't happy with – some of our passing, some of our movement, playing players under pressure or playing it to the wrong side. Listen, the girls have been fantastic since we've been back in, they've worked really hard. So, the first half was a little bit of a surprise to me. But the second half, I felt we controlled it [and] definitely didn't get the rub of the green again with the decisions.

On Julia Bartel coming on for her Liverpool debut in the second half...

Julia is a fantastic player, she's so comfortable on the ball [and] she's a little bit feisty as well, which we like. She would have come on last week but unfortunately Hannah Silcock hurt her knee. We've had to patiently build her up because she's not played many minutes for Chelsea – it's only really been [with] the Spanish youth national team. She's going to be a good addition for us.

On how the team 'push on from this'...

I said to the players after the game, we lost it in the first half and as much as it's been frustrating, we have to believe. Last year we had that belief. I know we've had the history that we've had injury-wise – we haven't got that now, so that's not even an excuse. We just need to stay in control of games because technically we've got some very gifted players. I thought Marie Höbinger made such a difference when she came on in the second half. We've got players that can play and we need to make sure that we work harder when we don't have the ball.

But I guess it would be Jürgen Klopp's comments when he first came in – '[doubter] to believer' – and I think for me that's probably where we are as a group. We had a good win last week, it's been a fantastic four weeks and then we've had a poor 40 minutes in the first half and when we're chasing games we just need to be a little bit more composed in certain situations. As I said, we'll be fine. There's been so many learning curves we can take from this season. We'll be fine but we just need to make sure that we get through to the next round of the FA Cup on Wednesday at West Ham.

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