Chelsea forward Sam Kerr says that the club have bounced back from defeat before and they will do it again.
The Blues suffered their first loss of the season as they went down 4-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Chelsea return to action this evening when they face BK Häcken in a UEFA Women’s Champions League fixture at Stamford Bridge. Reflecting on the Arsenal defeat in the pre-match press conference yesterday, Kerr spoke about Chelsea’s desire to bounce back at The Bridge this evening.
“We don’t lose a lot here at Chelsea, so whenever we do, there’s always a motivation to want to bounce back,” Kerr said. “It was difficult at the weekend.
“We’re glad that we have a game on Thursday, I wish the game was today, I wish we had the opportunity to get one back after the weekend. We always have to bounce back and I think that’s the beauty of being at Chelsea, there’s a game every three days, so you don’t have to wait.”
Victory over BK Häcken on Matchday 3 will see The Blues move into pole position in Group D. Captain Millie Bright remains sidelined with an injury, an absence that has seen Kerr claim the armband in recent weeks. After reflecting on whether that role changes the way that she will approach the European fixture, Kerr insisted that her focus has not shifted.
She said “Nobody needs motivating after the weekend to bounce back. I think we’re all top professionals, we have something crazy like six or seven national team captains in the squad. It’s not up to one individual, it’s not up to Emma [Hayes], it’s up to ourselves as a collective and as a team.
“We know that we have to bounce back. I’ve said many times before that we’re Chelsea, we’ve been here before and we will bounce back. We’re not going to let one loss, although it did hurt, derail us or get us down for too long. We have a game that’s super-important, three games actually in the next 10 days that are super-important. One game (Arsenal) – yes, it hurt but it’s not going to derail us, we’ve been here before.”
Kerr battled against an injury in the early weeks of the season before returning to action for club and country. The player spoke with regard to her fitness heading into the Christmas period.
She said “I’m feeling much better every week. I’m still working, I’m still trying hard, it’s been different to be honest but I’m enjoying it. I feel like I’m getting close now to my best and good performances will hopefully follow. I’ve been scoring, I’ve been helping the team. Normally, I have a pre-season but I didn’t have that this season, so that’s been different.
“I’m enjoying it, we’re sitting top of the league, second in the Champions League group with the opportunity to go top, so it’s not all doom and gloom, I’m excited and I’m ready to go.”
Chelsea’s UEFA Women’s Champions League fixture against BK Häcken kicks-off at 8pm. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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