Former Blues winger Destiney Toussaint, right, edges the ball past Gemma Lawley. Picture by Jeff Bennett.
COVENTRY United Ladies can hold their head high going into Sunday’s penultimate fixture of the season, says manager Jay Bradford, despite crashing out of the FA Women’s Cup in a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Birmingham City.
Doubles from Claudia Walker and Sarah Mayling, in addition to Emily Murphy’s strike, secured Blues’ safe passage into the fifth round despite Georgia Stevens’ stunning consolation late on.
For a Coventry side who, earlier this month, secured their FA Women’s Championship status for next season, it appears the pressure is now off in the two remaining games of 2020/21.
“I thought we did okay and competed [against Birmingham], but the second goal killed us and it came at a very good time for them,” said Bradford.
“We gave away some sloppy goals which are disappointing on our behalf, but I don’t think 5-1 is a fair reflection of our performance.
“Our goal comes from us pressing high, winning the ball off of their midfielder and then having some really nice quality in there – I’m glad we had that reward as it was what we deserved.
“We’ve been under a lot of pressure to win games and stay in the league, now that’s done we’ve got two games to try some things for next year and give some minutes to players that maybe haven’t had that.”
United host Crystal Palace this weekend, before heading to Durham to wrap up their season a week later.
