‘We have to take the challenge’ – Sørensen speaks ahead of Everton’s clash with Chelsea

After a disappointing loss to Manchester United in the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup, Everton manager Brian Sørensen is hoping that his side will bounce back against Chelsea this weekend.

It was a disappointing night for Everton at the Leigh Sports Village as they conceded seven goals without reply. They also managed to register just one shot on goal of their own in the entire 90 minutes.

Reflecting on what was a disappointing evening for his side, Sørensen said that the priority has to be Everton’s performances in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

“At the end of the day, we weren’t up for the task and it’s on me,” Sørensen said when speaking in an Everton press conference. “I have to do the best I can for being ready for the league, that’s our main focus. Yesterday, was going to be tough and unfortunately, it showed.

“We knew that going into that game, it would be very tough. We needed to really carefully manage the minutes in the squad because we have so many out.”

Everton go into this weekend’s fixture against Chelsea having only picked up one win from their last seven matches in all competitions. Despite The Blue Girls’ patchy results, Sørensen spoke positively about his side’s performances.

He said “The performances have been better than one win. The two big losses against United is not something that we want but it’s done, it’s history, there’s nothing we can do about it. We look forward and prepare ourselves for an even tougher match against Chelsea on Sunday. We will hopefully have more of the starters back, so we can compete over the 90 minutes.

“We were the better team against Brighton for large parts but didn’t get the result or at Leicester where we missed a penalty and had big chances. Performance-wise, it was good but we didn’t get anything out of it. We could have been sitting on 10 points, but instead, we sit on four because we didn’t manage to get those over the line.”

Latest opponents Chelsea currently sit at the top of the Barclays Women’s Super League table on 13 points. A positive goal difference of 11 highlights their formidable attacking threat in the competition thus far. Sørensen’s side face an uphill task but he wants Everton to rise to the challenge.

“I would like to have more defenders available but Lucy (Hope) is out, Nathalie (Björn) is out and Elise (Stenevik) is out,” Sørensen explained.

“Regardless of having our best team ready or not, we still have to face a really good opponent. We have to take that challenge and we will do so.”

Following the news that Chelsea manager Emma Hayes will be departing the club at the season’s end, Sørensen spoke of his opposite number in high praise.

“The WSL and English football wouldn’t be where it is today if it weren’t for her,” he said. “She’s a pioneer in setting the standard for all of the other teams.

“It’s a huge loss for the league and a huge loss for Chelsea but I’m sure she has her reasons for doing it. Her legacy is unbelievable.

“She will want to finish on a high and every game they go into now, they will be at their very best.”

Everton’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Chelsea takes place at Walton Hall Park at 1pm on Sunday.

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