NewsGareth Taylor column: Win over Leicester, fitness updates and trip to Brighton
It was really pleasing to get the victory against Leicester because there was a lot of anxiety around this game and we knew the importance of what it meant to win it.
Coming off the back of the internationals, I thought the girls trained really well all week and I thought we started the game really well, had a lot of attempts and probably should have worked their goalkeeper a bit more with the opportunities that we had.
We then scored an excellent goal through Beata Olsson, a really good build-up goal – starting all the way from our goalkeeper Jennifer Falk through to Mia Enderby providing a good cross and Beata finishing it.
It's impressive that stat about Beata scoring in 75 per cent of her Barclays Women's Super League starts, the best rate of any player in the competition's history.
She has worked really hard at her game and we have worked really hard with her on her finishing in training, so you can see the rewards are paying off.
I thought the substitutions that we made with the players that came onto the pitch in Gemma Bonner, Anna Josendal for her debut and Aurélie Csillag really got into the flow of the game quickly and that was a real bonus. It's never easy to come on in a game in those conditions.
I was really excited to see Anna on the pitch for us. She is someone that we have had to manage carefully because it wasn't just the injury she had, it was the add-on bits to that as well.
Hopefully getting her debut for us will give her some confidence because we think we have got a bright player there.
Jennifer Falk has been great for us and has been a real presence in goal. I think there is more to come from her. She has plenty of strengths within her game and I think it's really exciting to have her with us.
I'm a big fan and she has a lot more to give, but I think she brings a lot. She is very calm and assured and she brings a presence to the back line and communicates really well with the players.
Ceri Holland kept her composure to score the penalty and she has done very well for us.
I think she has really stepped up in her performances, her set-plays are really good and it was nice for us to get our first penalty this season.
We were without Denise O'Sullivan and Alice Bergstrom for the Leicester game but they are on the pitch now. After checking with the sports science and medical staff, hopefully we can get them closer to it for the weekend.
With Fuka Nagano and Risa Shimizu away at the Asian Cup, it's left us particularly light in midfield with the injuries we have, so getting Denise and Alice back will be really helpful for the squad.
On Sunday we make the long trip to Brighton and they are a team that are having a bit of an indifferent season.
We know they are a good team with good individuals and it's never an easy away game, but I think it's a game we will go into full of confidence. Certainly now with that big win over Leicester, we start to look up the table.
Thank you for your continued support.
YNWA,
Gareth
Gareth Taylor was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter