Defeat ‘shows progression’ for Palace

Crystal Palace lost 3-0 against Manchester City at Selhurst Park at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday. Here is what Palace manager Laura Kaminski had to say to BBC Radio London afterwards.

“So proud [on what she saw from her side], we speak about closing the gap between us and top sides and that was as our plan and that is our journey. I think Manchester City are top of the table at the moment so playing that side is a huge challenge. It needs a battle mindset, it needs hard work.

“In terms of where we’re at and our journey in terms of being a newly-promoted side, to go 3-0 into Man City, it shows direct progression against the game against Chelsea which was only five games ago.”

On whether she prepared for defeat against Manchester City: “No. Anything can happen on any day. We had confidence building into the fixture, we had great confidence in our shape and there is no reason why that shape can’t compete against top sides.”

On whether she is seeing improvements from her team: “Definitely. The scoreline suggests there has been a direct improvement in terms of conceding goals. We hit the bar, we’ve had chances as well so the quality is there, it just needs fine-tuning.”

On Palace skipper Aimee Everett still being out: “Aimee is ok, we’re just managing it in house. She took a bit of a knock in training a few weeks ago now and we are being cautious. It is a bit longer than what we thought initially but that’s ok, we’re coming to a close with that now as we enter the final stages of her rehab.

“We anticipated she would be back a little bit quicker but it’s just taking longer and making sure we don’t rush her.

“I need Aimee, she is a top, top player and the players that have filled in her boots have performed excellently, I think they have stepped up to the plate. When Aimee is back in and around the group, we will see.”