A-League Women’s coach Jeff Hopkins spoke to the media post-match after his side’s 1-0 loss against Melbourne City.
On the performance…
“Pretty disappointed with our performance in the first half.”
“I thought we were out-competed, we weren’t brave enough with the ball.”
“We had a good discussion at half-time.”
“We came out in the second half and I was really proud of the way that the players reacted from the first half.”
“Second half we created a number of chances, we could have actually gotten back into the game.”
“One of the things I was really pleased with was the desperation of our back four (and) the work of our goalkeeper to keep us in the game at 1-0.”
On the slow start to the game…
“I think it was the first time that we played in the hotter weather.”
“We looked tired in the first half.”
“I don’t know whether we were a bit over-emotional before the game.”
“We were out-played in certain parts of the game that we normally aren’t”
“(But) I was proud of the way the players kept going right until the end.”
On Emily Gielnik’s impending return…
“She’ll be back into training next week.”
“She’ll probably need at least a couple of weeks….to get that ability to withstand and get a bit of durability into that area of the leg that she’s injured.”
“Probably no for next week, but the following week I think she’ll be there or there about.”