Dan McNamara was pleased with Wolves Women’s performance after a 5-0 away win over Loughborough Lightning in the FAWNL.
A Charlotte Greengrass brace and goals from Beth Merrick, Amber Hughes and Racheal Quigley secured Wolves the three points at the Loughborough University Stadium.
McNamara gave his thoughts on the performance of the team and Abi Loydon, the variety of goalscorers and the occasion of playing at Molineux on Sunday.
On the performance
“It was good to get back into league action. It's been a tough week. I think you could tell that towards the end of the game, the girls were dead on their feet.
“But I'll give them a lot of credit. It was a good performance to bounce back from a difficult performance in the first half, and obviously, a result to take last weekend, and then we put it right midweek.
“I think that all but probably secures us a minimum of a top two finish, which I think we've got to take great pride in. To secure a top-two finish with four games left, I think it shows the level and the consistency of the top two within this league. There are only 22 league games, so to do it just over three-quarters of the way [into the season] is phenomenal.
“So, really pleased for the girls, and so, we’ve got to keep going, keep doing our job, and see what happens elsewhere.”
On how pleasing it is to have a variety of goalscorers
“They were trademark goals, weren't they? Beth [Merrick] obviously cuts inside and hits the top corner. Quigs [Racheal Quigley] is alert in the box, and obviously, Amber [Hughes] and Charlotte [Greengrass] do what they do best at the minute and score goals.
“I thought it was just a good team performance. There were a few changes due to a heavy week, but five goals and a clean sheet and the points in the bag and the manner in which they scored some of those goals as well [was impressive].
“We spoke at half time about not losing our identity, and we look at how those goals come about - it's working right till the last minute and still grinding out goals from nothing, so really pleased overall.”
On the performance of Abi Loydon
“Absolutely. You look at Abi Loydon. She hadn’t played for a fair few weeks and then comes into the squad two games running - two clean sheets, and we've won both games, and she was fantastic again today.
“I think she's got a really bright future ahead of her in football. She's spent a long time being patient, but the way she receives it in midfield, her tenacity and intensity, and the way she plays.
I thought she was excellent again today, but it was just overall a great day for the group.”
On playing at Molineux on Sunday
“West Brom for about the eighth time this season! But listen, it'll be a great occasion.
“We’ve got to make sure we go there and perform. I've challenged the girls. Can we push Burnley all the way to the end of the season?
“We know it's out of our hands now, but can we stay on their shoulder and be ready should anything happen? And that starts again next week at West Brom.
So yes, it'll be a great occasion, but we've got to make sure we're ready to get the points, put on a performance.
“We've seen how they play in midweek this week. They want to slow things down; they want to make it difficult for you to play. So we've got to make sure we're ready to fight. But with the fans added to it, hopefully it'll be a great day, and we can get a win.”
