Courtney Sweetman-Kirk says Coventry City Ladies will ‘’pull together’’ to get their season back on track, after being dumped out of two cup competitions in a matter of days.
The Sky Blues were knocked out of the Women’s FA League Cup by rivals Aston Villa last Thursday night, before a late goal from Manchester City’s Sarah Buffel put the Citizens through to the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup. It was a particularly bitter moment for the hosts, who were also beaten by a late goal in the league fixture between the teams back in October, and Sweetman-Kirk admitted that their lack of firepower in attack cost them dearly. ‘’I think the performance was a step up from our previous game against Villa, but still nowhere near what we are capable of,’’ the forward admitted. ‘’We defended well and had good shape, but we were poor going forward. The defeat was hard to take after defending so well but we were undone by a late lapse of concentration.’’ Although the Sky Blues board and staff targeted survival as their priority this season, they may rue Sunday’s loss as a missed opportunity to really make a good fist of the cup, with two all-Women’s Super League ties in the draw, along with a clutch of lower-league teams. However Sweetman-Kirk believes that this could be a blessing in disguise, as the Sky Blues hope for an upturn in their league fortunes. ‘’Obviously we didn’t want to go out of either cup, but the positives are that we can fully concentrate on retaining the Birmingham FA County Cup and better our league position from last season, which I still feel is achievable.’’ Due to postponements, Coventry City have only played one league match in 2013 – a defeat to high-flying Watford at the start of January – and currently sit in 6th position in the FA Women’s Premier League table. They have two tricky ties on the horizon, in the form of unbeaten Sunderland and Leeds United, who currently occupy 1st and 3rd places in the league respectively. Although Sweetman-Kirk hopes that the matches over the next two weeks will show the Sky Blues’ true character. ‘’We all still believe in ourselves and each other as a team and the next few games will now show our character as a team. We have our backs to the wall at the minute but sometimes that's when teams are at their most dangerous.Source: Coventry MAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
