Dan McNamara believes his side didn’t show the ‘real basics’ in an honest assessment following Sunday’s 6-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Wolves Women were well-beaten at the SEAH Stadium, and manager McNamara was disappointed with the way the Old Gold competed and allowed Forest into a four-goal lead at half-time. However, the returning Destiney Toussaint was a positive for McNamara and he wants his young squad of players to learn off her performance following a four-month lay-off through injury ahead of next Sunday’s trip to Burnley.
On a heavy home defeat
“First off, apologies to the fans. I don't think coming to our home ground and getting beat 6-1 is what they expected today, certainly not what I expected.
“It's tough. It's a sign of the times of where the league's at nowadays. We've got to learn very quickly.
“As good as they are, I think the most displeasing part of the first half is, I'd rather them score great goals where they play through us and really show their quality, but I think the four goals come from two set pieces, then an individual mistake, and then we don't want to defend the box properly, and then all of a sudden it's 4-0.
“I think it shows the difference because we have two or three chances in the first half and the score remains nil, and they have two or three chances in the first half and it's 4-0.
“They're the levels we're at now. They're the levels that we're competing against and it's an easy thing for me to stand here and say they’re full-time - you can still compete.
“I don't think, certainly the first half, we competed, I don't think we showed the real basics of playing for Wolves, and that's what's probably the most disappointing thing.”
On the message at half-time and Destiney Toussaint’s impact
“The game was done at half-time. I could hear the fans singing about last season. That doesn't happen. That's a once in a lifetime when you turn a three-goal deficit round.
“Once the game was finished at half-time, we talked about just showing a little bit of character and a little bit of what it means to play for Wolves because I didn't see it in the first half and, as I said, I felt they did in the second half.
“I've just told the group there, if anyone wants to see what it takes to play at the top of the game and what it means to play football, we should look at Destiney Toussaint’s 25 minutes.
“After four months out, I thought she was superb. Anger, determination, aggressiveness. Yes, there were a few things that were off because she hasn't played for five months. I thought we saw some really bright stuff from Destiney.
“She's got to be the one that we now look to lead us a little bit into what is not the most ideal fixture to follow but, as I said, we've got to learn quickly. We're still a young group, and the girls have got to come together and show really good character this week and prepare for what will be just as tough next weekend.”
On competing with Forest
“We've competed with Forest for so long. For so long we've been arch rivals, if you like, and the games have been close, and so that's why that really hurts today.
“I'm not suggesting that there isn't a little bit of we can't compete with them anymore - there is an element of that.
“For me, we should certainly not be going in 4-0 down at half-time in front of a fantastic set of fans again.
“I think we've all let people down today. I'll take a look at what I asked them to do and I'll take a look at what I asked of the players because I'm just as much responsible for it as well.
“It’s all well and good me standing here saying we didn't compete, but I asked them to do something, and ultimately that didn't work.
“I'll go away and reflect with the staff and have a little think about how we approach the game and see what we could do better.”
