Sunderland Ladies boss Reay reacts to defeat at Liverpool
Mel Reay was disappointed with Sunderland Ladies’ result and performance against Liverpool, but says her side will use the upcoming international break to reflect, recover and prepare for the busy festive schedule.
Despite taking a 20th minute lead through Emily Scarr, theBlackCatsfelltoa3-1defeat totheleagueleaderswithYana Daniels and Leanne Kiernan turning the game on its head beforehalftimeandafantastic strike from Melissa Lawley on the hour securing a comfortable win for the Reds.
And Reay says her players have got to be better with the ballwhentheycomeupagainst the bigger teams, with Super League outfit Aston Villa at home next up in the League Cup.
“We obviously knew it was going to be a tough game,” she said. “But to go one-nil up and toholdthatleadfor30minutes, and it was just the manner we conceded the goals.
“The first one was dubious; I don’t think it was a corner. They have managed to score and then it’s a bit of a sucker punch right before half time when they got the second one. So yeah, we’re disappointed with those two goals in the first half.
“Liverpool were always going to be a threat; we knew they were going to dominate the ball.
“They are a full-time professional team and that’s what we’re going to be up against. Butwestayedstrong,ourshape
wasgoodattimes,we’vejustgot to be better on the ball.
“That was the thing I was mostdisappointedwith:we’ve got to be better on the ball, we’ve got to be braver. We’ve gottokeeppossessionbetterto be able to pose more of a threat against the bigger teams.”
Although Sunderland welcomed Maria Farrugia back intothestartingXIafterrecovering from a leg injury and Abbey Joice also returning to the midfield, knocks to both Faye Mullen (hip) and Scarr (knee) in either half compounded a bad evening.
But the Lionesses’ World Cup qualifier against Austria at the Stadium of Light on Saturday
gives Reay and her team an opportunity to reflect and recoverbeforeahecticDecember.
Reay said: “It’s a chance to pauseagainandreflectandsee where we are at. We’ve got two
Continental Cup games, an FA Cup tie and a league fixture beforeChristmassowewillmake sure that we are learning and are putting in performances that are going to get more points in the future.”