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Kerr on late goals and staying patient

Shelley Kerr

Shelley Kerr gave her thoughts after Arsenal Ladies secured the Continental Cup for a third year in a row with a 2-0 win over Lincoln on Friday. Read a transcript of what she had to say here: 

on the team taking time to find the breakthrough…
I did take time but I thought we thoroughly deserved the win, we created enough chances and that's exactly what it's been like all season. The difference tonight was we were a little bit more patient and we managed to get the goal and then another one soon after.

on her pride in the team after a difficult few weeks…
I think we had a difficult week with the Champions League draw and we got the team who are the furthest away. We had a draw in the league that week as well and then we had the points deduction so it was really tough for us as a Club to try and move forward. In football that's the most important thing, you have to move forward and the way I see it is that we would have had a Champions League spot if we hadn't received the points deduction and we've won two out of three domestic trophies. For anybody who is doubting the talents we've got at this Club or how good we are as a team I think the facts are there for everyone to see.

on Kim Little's performance…
She's a big player for the big occasions and she delivered tonight. I was delighted for her to get a goal because that's something that maybe has been missing in her game but we've played here in a deeper role to be fair to her but she thoroughly deserved that goal tonight.

on another clean sheet…
We're delighted with another clean sheet but when it comes to a cup final you just want to win.

on breaking down Lincoln…
We spoke about it all week, we said the three games we've played against them have all been draws and we've had so many chances in this game tonight but that's a credit to Lincoln because they are so well organised defensively. But we stayed patient and when you have to defend for long periods it's really difficult to do and I felt maybe Lincoln tired a bit because you have to concentrate so hard it drains you sometimes. We had that class and we eventually got the goals.

on the quality of the goals…
Ellen was delighted to make amends after the chances she missed earlier on in the game. But the one good thing about Ellen is she does get chances in the game and she doesn't let her head go down and she's always capable of getting goals.

on a long unbeaten run…
We've lost one game domestically all season and people have been doubting us as a team. We got to the semi-finals of the Champions League, won two domestic trophies and have the best defensive record in the league so that tells you how talented they are.