Post-Match Comments: Harley Bennett and Nikita Runnacles on Sunderland win

Shortly after the final whistle was blown at Princes Park, London City Lionesses interim head coach Nikita Runnacles and captain Harley Bennett spoke with reporters. Here is what they said.

Nikita Runnacles, London City Lionesses (Image: thoughtsofawing)

Interim Head Coach, Nikita Runnacles

When asked about her side's performance, Runnacles said:

"We’ve had a couple of weeks building into this match, with the cancellation and FA Cup. We’ve been building towards this game over the course of two weeks and we knew how important it was to kick-start this week on a positive, with Bristol City and Birmingham City next.

"We were fantastic in the way that we created chances and kept them on their backfoot in the first-half. There are a lot of reflections we will look at from later in the match, but it was a really good performance overall."

When asked about London City's ability to score twice in quick succession, the former goalkeeper added:

“That’s the ruthlessness that you need. It’s a credit to the players that they were able to do that twice on the bounce. The way they have conducted themselves over the last two weeks has been excellent and they were just rewarded for it.

When asked if today's win would affect preparations for the upcoming double-gameweek, Runnacles replied:

"We’ll approach the next match the same way we approach every game. Why change a process that is working right now? We take every training session seriously and then we’ll go into the game fired up and ready to compete."

Captain, Harley Bennett

Harley Bennett, London City Lionesses (Image: thoughtsofawing)

When asked for her reaction to the win, the defender said:

"Obviously, last week hurt a little bit, so we knew that we needed to react today and that's exactly what we did."

When asked about Amy Rodgers' transition to playing in the defence, Bennett replied:

“It’s not been difficult for her at all. Amy is a great, versatile player and her ability to jump into the position shows the quality that she has. She helped us to stay secure at the back and is doing a job the team really needed. She’s doing well.”

When asked about the importance of Sarah Ewens' goal-scoring form, she added:

“She’s just on fire. It’s funny because as much as she scores, sometimes she lacks a little bit of confidence. Her goal today will build her up even more. She was on the end of three or four crosses today and deserved her reward.”

When asked to preview Wednesday's trip to Bristol City, the captain answered:

“We’ve waited a long time for this game, with it being postponed twice. It’s such an exciting game for the league, with first and second finally going head-to-head. We’re super focussed coming off the back of that win and we can’t wait to get started again.”