Dan McNamara says he is ‘proud’ of his Wolves Women side despite exiting the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
Wolves were beaten 2-1 by WSL 2 side Nottingham Forest at Hednesford’s Keys Park Stadium, although a battling performance allowed them to leave with their heads held high.
Georgia Marshall pulled a goal back midway through a much improved second half, after the Old Gold trailed by two heading into the break.
McNamara touched on the performance, the desire to play quality sides week in and week out, the improved squad depth, and a Black Country derby coming up.
On the performance
“Yes, hugely proud. I thought we represented the club fantastically well today.
“It's the small details when you're playing opposition of that class, you have to be on it every minute, and three minutes in we end up not marking from a corner and we’re 1-0 down and up against it straight off the bat.
“So it's the small details we've got to get right if we want to be playing teams like that week in, week out in the league.
“Overall I'm really proud, I thought in the second half we gave it a right go. I thought we were more threatening, maybe the better side, we had more control than in the first half.
“They’re a great side, they're superb, so physical and athletic. We tried to upset their flow a bit and make it a tier three game not a tier two game, but no complaints from me. I thought we were fantastic, but beaten by the better side.”
On playing high quality sides
“I said this to the girls earlier on, we want this to be a league fixture next season, we want to be hosting them at home in the league.
“I thought a few of the girls proved they can grow into that league over the next however long. I thought Amy Sims was outstanding, and Georgia Marshall - I’m sick of saying it - I think she gets player of the match every week.
“Others came on and did well, Chloe Williams, Milly Robertson, and Louanne Worsey I thought had some bright moments in the first half, Charlotte was outstanding.
“Anna Morphet, Abbi Jenner when she came on, the whole lot of them were brilliant in their own individual moments. But as I said those key little details you have to get right, we didn't get right in that first 20 minutes.”
On squad depth
“Absolutely, it's a great squad we've put together, that squad depth is something we've been lacking over the past couple of years, but we've got that now.
“We've got to make sure we're at it week in, week out, players have to know to be ready to go at it again.
“I think looking back on that now, we got it right on the day, we questioned whether to change a few things, but like I've said, really proud of the performance. Some really outstanding performances from some of the girls, and we've got to make sure we're ready to go again next week for another big game.”
On West Brom next up
“It’ll be tricky up there, I don't think the surface is as kind as we've played on today. We’ve got to go and get points away from home and that involves playing West Brom next week.
“The girls will be ready and focused, we don't want to make a habit of losing, it's not a nice feeling. We were expected to lose today and I can see the girls are still disappointed by it, but we'll be ready next week.
“I think the girls just need to go away and reflect on that because I think they've done themselves really proud.”
