Manager Lee Burch was disappointed in the manner of his sides 9-0 Conti Cup defeat to Arsenal last night and is demanding his side bounce back when they face Blackburn Rovers on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts boasted a lot of top international talent in their squad, despite making changes and it was a tough evening for Burch’s side. The hosts went into the break with a three-goal lead, before adding further strikes in the second half, including three goals in five minutes at the start of that second period.
The boss accepts his side were up against top-quality opposition but was disappointed with the manner in which some of the goals were conceded.
“In the first 44 minutes we were okay, but after that, the quality told and so did all the possession they had. But I have to say for all their quality, we have to be better than some of the goals we conceded this evening.”
“We know what they wanted to do and we have to be better. I know we were playing against top players but the way we started the second half was really poor.”
“You have to track your runners and be better in both boxes, as I say I thought we did really well in some stages but let ourselves down in others.”
Burch wants his side to grow from the experience of playing top-class opposition and has challenged his players to bounce back stronger from a frustrating evening.
The Bees face Blackburn Rovers next up before the winter break and the boss wants to move on from the Conti Cup, to focus on a really important league fixture.
“They are a top team, we will end up playing them again sometime, so we will have to be better. They have lots of quality, but we have to be disappointed with that scoreline and our second-half performance.”
“We won’t go on about it and we will have to draw a line under tonight ahead of the weekend. The players will analyse their own individual performance and we have to prepare really well for what will be a tough battle on Sunday.”
One of the main positives of the evening was the minutes given to players who have been out of action. Mollie Dench made her first start of the season and Connie Forman made a return to action.
Courtnay Ward-Chambers also made a long-awaited return to action after a spell on the sidelines and Burch was pleased to be able to give out some much-needed game time to those players.
“It was a really good opportunity for them to get minutes, particularly for Courtnay who has been out with a serious injury. I’m really pleased for the players who have been able to come back.”