Deans Pinpoints Positives To Be Taken Despite Defeat

Kirsty Deans was pleased with her side’s performance despite the defeat to Hibernian in the Scottish Building Society Scottish Women’s Premier League One on Sunday.

The midfielder believes there are many positives to take from the defeat with Farmington defending well against a side challenging for the title.

Deans, 26, felt her teammates approached the game in a positive manner which helped their performance.

“Sunday’s result is bitter sweet. We never want to lose a game and not take points but at the same time there are a lot of positives we can take.”

She continued: “Having played them just a few weeks ago in a friendly I felt we played much better on Sunday and made it really hard for them to break us down. I think the girls took a lot of confidence from the game last week and that allowed us to approach Sunday with a positive mindset.”

Following the result, Deans believes the attitude in the dressing room was positive but admits they were disappointed not to threaten the Hibs defence more often.

“The atmosphere in the changing room was positive at full time. On the whole we felt that we played well, we were well organised and defended well against a side who are known for their goal scoring threat, so we were delighted with that part of the game.”

“Saying that we were a little disappointed not to have done more going forward, we felt with more composure and conviction we could have troubled them a bit more in the middle of the park and final third. We’ll take that at this stage though and that will give us plenty to work on and we’ll look forward to getting another chance to play them soon enough.”

Deans had suffered an injury in pre-season and after a substitute appearance at Hamilton last week, she made the starting XI against Hibs. The midfielder played the full 90 minutes and was delighted to get back playing.

“I was delighted to get a start having got some minutes last week as a sub against Hamilton. It’s been a long time coming to get back into playing after the injury and I’m glad I was able to contribute to the team for the 90 minutes.”

She continued: “I felt on the whole I did my job defensively most of the time but I lacked a bit of composure and sharpness in my decision making but hopefully that will come with more game time and being fully back in training regularly.”

Farmington currently sit fourth in the SBSSWPL1 after their opening two games with three points and Deans reckons this is exactly where the side hoped to be before the season kicked off.

“I think if we looked at the first two games before the season this is exactly where we hoped we would be with 3 points on the board. To limit Hibs to two goals and keep our goal difference tight is hugely important to us and that is something that we are pleased with.”

“I think we can take a lot of confidence from these first two games and look to build on this in the cup next week and then when we return to league action.”

This Sunday sees a break from league action as Farmington host Aberdeen in the League Cup first round. With Aberdeen suffering relegation in 2017 and being in the same position as Farmington were last season, Deans knows that the visitors will be out to prove a point.

“Aberdeen in the cup is going to be a very interesting challenge. They definitely should not be underestimated, as we know they have the capabilities to score goals and are a well organised team who are hard to break down. They have had a couple of mixed results so far and so it is hard for us to predict exactly what to expect but we know that they will be out to prove a point against us.”

“We have taken their spot and they will be out to show that their intent to get back up and challenge again in SWPL1. We are very much looking forward to the challenge though and will go all out to perform well and build on this weekend’s positives.”