Spurs 1-1 Crystal Palace (3-5 on pens), Players Cup | Martin Ho’s verdict

We went into the game at Brisbane Road with momentum on our side after three consecutive wins in all competitions but struggled to hit the heights we have done in previous matches and needed an equaliser from substitute Julie Blakstad to rescue a point after our former captain Bethany England had fired the Eagles in front.

The game ended 1-1 and we went to a penalty shootout for an extra point in the league phase of the competition, but came up short as Palace triumphed 5-3.

“We were nowhere near it in terms of off the ball, with the ball, playing the way we play… we were nowhere near it and for us, that’s unacceptable,” Head Coach Martin told SPURSPLAY.

“In the attacking third we lacked any kind of quality of execution with our final action.

“It’s not enough. We can’t play games of football like that, we can’t step off the gas that much compared to the game we played against Brighton and expect to win the game.”

Asked what he wanted to see from the team after making a quadruple substitution in the opening stages of the second half, Martin replied: “A response, because we weren’t good enough in that moment. I need more character, more personality, more effort, more desire and a willingness to want to win the game and I wasn’t seeing that.”

Defender Toko Koga led the team out as captain for the first time, with Martin explaining: “She’s part of our performance group, she was the one on the pitch who is part of that group so it (the armband) goes to her. Hopefully that’ll give her some good experience, confidence and belief in terms of wanting to be a leader and hopefully that’ll bring more out of her.”