Dan McNamara highlighted his side’s lack of effort as they exited the FAWNL Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Wolves Women were beaten 1-0 by local rivals West Bromwich Albion Women at the SEAH Stadium, bringing a close to their Cup campaign at the quarter-final stage.
McNamara touched on the performance, potential reasons behind the defeat and a lack of effort, before encouraging a quick turnaround and addressing Beth Merrick’s absence from the matchday squad.
On the performance
“We got what we deserved, we weren't at the races and we could say we weren't good enough. I thought West Brom fully deserved it, they fought like you have to in a Black Country derby, they won first and second balls, even third balls.
“Too many of us watched today, as passengers, we were miles off it in my opinion. Nowhere near good enough for the high standards this group has set, so it won't be one we park and move on from, we need to have a look at it.
“I can deal with a poor performance when our football hasn’t gone quite well or tactically not getting it right - we can look at that as staff. But the lack of wanting to win the game, I can’t deal with, so we got what we deserved.”
On potential reasons behind the defeat
“You can blame the Christmas break, maybe a lack of action over the past few weeks, I don't know, I’ll see what the girls think of it.
“I thought we trained well this week, preparation had gone well, the girls had been speaking about consistency with their actions throughout the week and they trained really well.
“But today it was a far cry from the group that I said ‘have a good Christmas’ to, back in December, so we have to find out why and find out quickly.
“Hopefully over the next couple of weeks, with what looks like a free weekend, we can really focus on that and make things right.”
On lack of effort
“At half-time, at 0-0, it's hard to play against Albion, they sit in front of the goal and counter-attack, and when we make the game as transitional as we did, giving the ball away, we make them look brilliant.
“That’s not me taking anything away from them, I thought they were excellent today. As I said we can’t be so loose with possession, I can go into the footballing tactics all I want, but I just wasn't pleased with the lack of energy and intensity within the actions, and that's what I'd rather get to the bottom of.
“People can have bad games, go through spats where they don't play particularly well, but that shouldn't affect your want of trying, and I don't think we saw that effort today that we usually do.”
On bouncing back
“We’ve had a brilliant record over the years against Albion, I think that's the first time in about seven years they've beaten us in open play, so all good records come to an end.
“But we have to fix it quickly, we've got Rugby Borough coming here next, and they're trying to sneak back into the top two fold, so they know they have to come here and win.
“So we'll have to be right at it. Today was not what we wanted to see, but we can't let that define our season.
“The Cup has evaded us again, as it normally does, but we can let the disappointment cast a shadow over us for too long. We have to quickly move on from it, find out the reasons behind it, and be ready again come 8th February.”
On Beth Merrick
“Unfortunately, Beth is going to be out for a few weeks with a hamstring problem picked up in training on Thursday.
“Again, not what we wanted heading into a pivotal run of games, with her quality and ability to be able to unlock a door or open up a goal, but it's football and that's why you put a good squad together.
“Other players have to stand up and be counted, but we won't be seeing Beth for the foreseeable.”
