FOOTBALL: MARC Skinner was not too disheartened after watching his Birmingham City Ladies side open their Spring Series campaign with a disappointing goalless draw at home to Sunderland Ladies.
Despite dominating for long periods of the match, the hosts were unable to break down a spirited Sunderland side at the Automated Technology Group Stadium on Sunday.
Skinner admitted he was disappointed not to make a winning start, but paid tribute to Sunderland’s battling qualities.
“It’s a disappointing start but it’s a process,” said Skinner. “We’ve got to better and understand that if teams do sit back playing against us we’ve got to know how to unlock them.
“I cut my emotion from it. It’s a ruthless job so we’ve got to be ruthless. If we’d been more ruthless we’d have won the game, but it we move on.
“You’ve got to give credit to Sunderland. They’ve got a great coach and she’s got them fighting. They almost did what we did to Arsenal and Chelsea.
“They got their game plan off to a tee. There were a couple of nervy moments but we looked pretty secure at the back.
“They’re a good team and they have been for a few years so well done to them – I look forward to playing them in the winter league.”
Having previously played three matches against West Brom, Arsenal and Chelsea to reach the Women’s FA Cup final, Skinner opted to make no fewer than six changes to his starting line-up.
And he defended that decision, adding that he needs to access every player during the Spring Series.
“I need to see people,” he added. “I need to see if people can play and how they can play.
“I’ve got a really good squad, lots of really talented young players and I’ll make notes on them.
“These players should be good enough and they will be in the future but how do they know if they never get a chance to play?
“There’s going to be loads more chances for players to play and with more time they’ll get make better.
“Even if it’s slow improvement, it’s still improvement so for me I’ll make no excuses. I love these players, there’s a lot of quality there and I made changes based on the fact that I’ve got the quality to do that.”
