United trio react to Continental Cup exit
Manchester United Women's head coach Marc Skinner insisted he remains happy with the collective journey his players are currently on, despite Thursday's 3-1 defeat to Chelsea in the Continental Tyres League Cup semi-final.
The result ended the Reds' hopes of reaching a first final, as well as an impressive run of seven wins in a row in all competitions.
With Skinner admitting his side endured a difficult first 45 minutes, United produced a stronger second-half showing, despite being reduced to ten players when goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley was dismissed late on.
''In the second half we came out and we were better, but we put ourselves in a hole in the first half because we didn’t do the things that we pride ourselves on.
''We are Manchester United, and we have to impose ourselves on the game much better than we did in that first half.''
''It’s frustrating, that’s my first word,'' said the Norwegian, as she spoke to MUTV following the defeat.
''It took time before we came into the game in the first half and they scored, let’s say, two easy goals against us.
''When we managed to score at 2-1, I felt like we had a chance to come into the game again and get the score back to 2-2 and start over. Then they made it 3-1 straight before half-time and that made it hard to come back again in the second half.''
With togetherness and character being two big impetuses for Skinner and his side, defender Aoife Mannion shared her own thoughts, insisting the game will provide a learning lesson if nothing else.
''I think there will be loads of moments we will be disappointed with,'' she reflected.
''Unfortunately it just didn’t go our way today,'' concluded the 26-year-old.