‘You have to dig deep and I think they did’ – Ward reacts to Aston Villa’s defeat at Chelsea | OneFootball

Aston Villa head coach Carla Ward said that her side could take pride from their performance despite falling to a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at Kingsmeadow last night.

The South West Londoners dominated the game as they continued their title push. Aston Villa were up against it after just four minutes following a red card for goalkeeper Anna Leat.

Despite enduring a difficult evening, Aston Villa head coach Ward said that she was pleased with her side’s resilience after being reduced to 10 players so early in the game.

“I’ve got a lot of pride for the players because you can roll over,” Ward said when speaking in the post-match press conference. “You come to the champions and against 11 players, it’s hard enough but with 10, you have to dig deep and I think they did that.”

Following Leat’s dismissal, Ward brought on 17-year-old goalkeeper Sophia Poor for her Barclays Women’s Super League debut. She praised the youngster for her excellent performance and highlighted the support which was offered to Poor by her teammates.

“She said to me at half-time, Am I doing okay?,” Ward said. “I said, you’re doing really well.

“There’s a reason that England and Villa are investing a lot of time into her. She’s got a really bright future ahead of her and for her first game to be in that manner, she was excellent.

“They’ve all helped her out and you could see that. Every save she made they’re all around her, looking after her, talking to her. I think it was an important night for the experienced players to step up.”

Aston Villa now have 11 days to prepare for their next Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against West Ham United and Ward says that only a win will do against The Hammers.

“We have to deliver against West Ham,” she said. “We’ve got to focus on not dropping the three points against them.”

Aston Villa remain in seventh position in the Barclays Women’s Super League table after last night’s defeat, although all of the sides below them now have a game-in-hand.