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Smith on defeat, Chelsea, experience

Kelly Smith
Kelly Smith

Kelly Smith faced the media after Sunday’s FA Women’s Cup defeat against Chelsea. You can read a full transcript of her interview below:

on defeat…
Chelsea were well organised and we just struggled to break them down. The effort was there today and everyone gave 110 per cent - you couldn’t ask for any more. There was just a little bit of a lack of quality that we had in the final third. Whether it was a through ball or a shot on goal, it just wasn’t happening for us today.

on 90 minutes…
I was pleased. I was only supposed to play 45 minutes but I felt quite good and the state of the game meant I stayed on. It’s just a shame that I couldn’t help the team score.

on the physicality…
This is what you play the game for. In quarter-finals and semi-finals you want to win the trophies that are up for grabs and it wasn’t meant to be today. It’s very disappointing because I think our preparations were right and a key to our game was that three of our players who had come back from international duty hadn’t played a lot of time. Jordan and Alex were away with England, Leah played four games in six or seven days, and I felt they looked a bit tired. When you’ve got three players like that it effects your team and I felt that was how it was today.

on a blend of youth and experience…
It benefits the younger ones because we can lead the way and then obviously the experienced players need the younger players fighting for their spots because nobody’s spot is guaranteed. We’ve got a good mix. Casey Stoney, me, Alex Scott and Emma Byrne are more senior and then you’ve got the youngsters like Leah Williamson, Carla Humphrey and Jade Bailey who are the future of the club.