Matt Beard believes his Liverpool side can be proud of what they have achieved in their first season back in the Women's Super League, despite Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Manchester United.
The Reds did well to frustrate their visitors - who knew only a win would be enough to give them a chance of winning the WSL title - and Emma Kovisto forced Mary Earps into a fine save with a smart strike just after the hour mark. But Liverpool were soon made to pay for the spurned opportunity, with substitute Lucia Garcia's excellent left-footed effort putting United 1-0 up inside 72 minutes.
Garcia's tidy finish was enough to seal the three points for the visitors, though Chelsea's victory over bottom-of-the-table Reading means they miss out on the title by just two points. For Liverpool, Saturday's defeat means a seventh place finish; something that Beard believes is a solid achievement for his newly-promoted side.
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"I’m disappointed to lose," the Reds boss said after the game. "We didn’t really get going with the ball.
"I thought defensively we switched off for two moments. For one, Lawsy made a great save and for the other we were punished.
"Apart from that we restricted them mostly to set-plays and shots from distance really. We just couldn’t get going going forwards and against these top teams that can’t happen."
Reflecting on the season as a whole, Beard added: "It’s been a long year and we can be proud of what we’ve achieved.
"Of course we want more. We strive for more. That’s what my reflection of the season will be. Now we’ve got to look at how we break into that top six going forwards."
Saturday's result marked a rare home defeat for Liverpool, who had won five of their previous six games at Prenton Park before the visit of United. The Reds have, however, failed to win on the road this season and Beard believes that is something he and his players must try to improve next term.
"[Winning away] is one thing that we need to look at," he said.
"I still think that you need to break the league up because these top teams have so much quality and squad depth. I think injuries have had a big impact on our season this year and that’s something we need to look at in the summer.
"We need to make sure that the players we bring in can cope with the demands of being a professional football player.
Beard added: "The ambition this year was staying in the division. That was the first thing we needed to do. The teams that come up usually struggle and I don’t think we’ve struggled.
"We had a tough start fixture wise and I think the players have grown over the course of the season. We’ll take a lot of confidence and belief from the way we’ve progressed over the course of the year."
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