Paul Konchesky says that there are plenty of positives that his West Ham United side can take from the performance that they displayed against Arsenal on Sunday evening.
The Hammers were on the end of a 3-1 defeat at Meadow Park, but performed admirably on a cold evening in Hertfordshire.
Captain, Dagný Brynjarsdóttir looked to have put her side ahead on 26 minutes, when she connected with a wonderfully delivered corner from Kirsty Smith. However, referee Abigail Byrne blew for a foul and it was ruled out.
The Iceland midfielder would eventually notch her fifth goal in as many matches, seizing on a loose backpass which deceived Manuela Zinsberger in the Arsenal goal. Brynjarsdóttir had the easiest of tap-ins after the ball had bounced off the post, and gave her side the lead with 35 minutes on the clock.
Jordan Nobbs would pull one back just before the break, and then Stina Blackstenius and Frida Maanum would put the game beyond doubt in the second half.
Konchesky noted the good performance from his players at full-time, but couldn't hide his disappointment in defeat...
We're obviously disappointed to lose
For 70 minutes, the girls were fantastic. We always knew that coming here was going to be tough - they hadn't conceded a goal in the league before tonight so that shows how good they are as a team.
We scored a goal that came from our good work, and then we probably should have had another as we've seen that Dagny's header from the corner should have stood.
There's plenty of positives that we can take away from this performance, but the overall feeling at full-time is one of disappointment.
We're trying to make a habit of starting matches quickly
I'm pleased that we were able to do that again tonight, and we were able to spend the entirety of the first half on the front foot.
The goals comes from Dagny being alert and following in rom the mistake, it also comes from us pressing from the front, which was really pleasing.
The girls really put in a shift tonight, and that's all that we can ask of them. They worked hard for one another, and that's the standard that this team has set.
We think the goal that is ruled out should stand.
It looked as though the push came from one of the Arsenal players and Dagny came over to us and said that the goal should have stood.
We feel as though that goal changes the game a little bit, it would have given us a bigger advantage and maybe made it more difficult for Arsenal.
We need to try and keep our intensity throughout the game
The next step for us against these top sides is to try and play at the intensity that we want to throughout the 90 minutes.
Like I said, the girls have done brilliantly for 70 or so minutes, but the team dropped off a little bit, and I think that allowed Arsenal more space and time on the ball.
We need to work on that as the season goes on as it's becoming a little bit of a trend for us.
I thought young Sophie was fantastic tonight
I think she was a little nervous before the game, as anyone is before making their full debut - but hopefully the minutes last weekend against Reading helped a little bit with that.
I thought she was brilliant, and I didn't think there was anything that she could have done about the three goals.
We're all really proud of her - it's not easy for a 19-year-old goalkeeper to step up against a team like Arsenal, so we're really pleased with what she produced tonight.
We have plenty of positives to take into the Brighton game
We're back at home and in front of our fans, who have been brilliant so far this season.
Hopefully we can start quickly again and take all three points.
West Ham United Women are back at Chigwell Construction Stadium on Sunday 6 November when they face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Tickets for the clash against the Seagulls are available to purchase now by clicking on the graphic below!
