Source: Andrew Waller

Salomon reflects on Watford’s opening fixture

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While a 1-0 defeat to Oxford wasn’t the result hoped for to start the league campaign with, there were certainly positives to take from the performance.

Manager John Salomon felt his side deserved more: “We’re disappointed not to come away with anything because we really feel that we deserved something from that game, certainly one point if not all three.”

“I thought we were dominant in the second half, had a steady first half and then made a change at half-time to bring a bit more balance to the team.”

“It was a really strong second 45 and we’re frustrated to not come away with something as a reward for the players’ efforts.”

Another bright spot was seeing a number of the team who didn’t play in the FA Cup game against Keynsham return at Abingdon, with some even doing the full 90 minutes.

“We had to change what might have initially been the line-up based on the fact we had players coming back from injury,” Salomon explains. “We were in a good position in the sense of having those that have returned to training in contention. There’s five or six in the squad today who have missed the last couple of games, the FA Cup and a couple of friendlies because of injuries.”

“That’s no excuse today, it’s great to see those players come back in and get 90 minutes. Emily got on at half-time and it was a really strong second half performance from her, that’s encouraging for us moving forward.”

The Lady Hornets’ next league fixture and first at home will be on the 28th March, with Aston Villa the visitors.

It’s an historic occasion for the club, with the match being played at Vicarage Road and over 600 tickets already sold.

Salomon is focused on his side being prepared for the task at hand: “The main thing is that it’s a game of football, it’s quite a big pitch but relatively the same sort of size as we usually play on. We’ve just got to go out there and put in a performance and start getting some points together in the league.”

“It’s a good occasion and a great opportunity to showcase women’s football in the area. It’s nice to have so many fans from around Watford taking an interest in the game and wanting to come and support us.”

“That’s fantastic but our focus will absolutely be what happens on the pitch.”

“The stadium around us and all that doesn’t concern us, when we’re on the pitch for those 90 minutes we’ll be totally focused on the task at hand. That’s going to be to put in a strong performance against a good Aston Villa side.”

John Salomon is pictured above (on the right of the photo) with his coaching staff.  Thanks to Watford LFC for this article.