Coventry United boss Jay Bradford was left heartbroken after her side narrowly lost out 3-2 to Blackburn Rovers on Sunday but she was pleased with the character shown to overturn a two-goal deficit.
Late goals from Rio Hardy and Katie Wilkinson seemed to have clinched a point for Coventry United after Saffron Jordan and Farah Crompton had put Rovers ahead but Ellie Leek snatched a late winner following a fumble from visiting keeper Olivia Clark.
Speaking after the final whistle, Coventry United boss Bradford praised her side’s character to get back into the game and said that The Red and Greens were unlucky to lose out.
“To come back into the game in the manner that we did shows our character and our quality,” Bradford said.
“I have no problem with Liv Clark in goal, she’s been absolutely superb, she’s held everything but it’s just one of them and it happens to keepers unfortunately.”
Bradford’s side conceded a penalty kick in the 10th minute at The Sir Tom Finney Stadium. Bradford said that she had no problem with the call from the referee but questioned decisions later on in the game.
She said “Yeah, 100% it’s a penalty but I think there were actually worse challenges than that in the game. I feel there were many more incidents in the game that were not dealt with.”
With Watford collecting a first point on Sunday, Coventry United are now level on points with the bottom side. When asked about the pressure of the drop, Bradford was calm but acknowledged that her side can be better.
“I’ve said all year that we are not what we want to be,” she said. “We’ve signed players that were making big statements about why they were coming here and we haven’t quite got there yet.
“I’m hoping that we will but we can’t keep saying that, we’ve got to start doing it and today was an opportunity to move away from Watford but they’ve gone and got a point so full credit to them.”
Coventry United are next in action against Bristol City at the Butts Park Arena next Monday when they will be hoping to pick up some much needed points.
By Matthew Ward