‘It feels like we’ve hit a brick wall’ says Brighton & Hove Albion boss Powell

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Hope Powell was understandably frustrated after watching her side fall to a 3-0 defeat to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League’s bottom club Bristol City on Saturday.

Albion have now failed to record a win in their last six Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixtures. The frustrations surrounding The Seagulls’ form were clear to see throughout their 3-0 loss to bottom of the table side Bristol City at Twerton Park with Kayleigh Green receiving a red card for a forceful stamp on The Robins’ goalscorer Yana Daniels.

Looking beyond the frustrations of the game, Brighton & Hove Albion boss Powell was full of praise for Bristol City when speaking in the post-match press conference in which FAWSL Full-Time were present.

“It was really tough for us” said Powell. “Credit to them they were full of running, full of life and scored three goals.

“We tried to play but on the day if you don’t score goals you end up losing.

“We’ve got to accept it’s not good enough by our standards, it feels like we’ve hit a brick wall and we have to re-evaluate and go again.”

Powell went on to reiterate the selection nightmare which she currently faces with players unavailable through COVID-19 regulations and injuries.

She said “We’ve still got a few players out which has been tough and we’ve had to move players around.”

The Brighton & Hove Albion boss went on to say that she accepted referee Lucy Oliver’s decision to send Green off for her stamp on Daniels. Powell had no complaints whatsoever on the decision.

“It was a red card, no arguments there” she admitted. “It’s not acceptable, we end up a player down.

“She’ll be banned for a certain amount of games, she knows it and she’s disgusted with herself.”

Powell is faced with the uphill battle of turning Albion’s fortunes around against league leaders Chelsea next weekend, however, she remains upbeat about her side’s form.

“We’re not bottom of the league” she said. “We’ve just got to do better, we will do better, we’ll have to do better to stay in the league.”

Powell must take her side to Kingsmeadow to face the champions, no easy task for any side, particularly one in poor form.