Molly Bartrip: “We have started to show that we are building as a Club"

Molly Bartrip is determined to keep improving as she feels there’s still plenty more to come from the team.

It was a disappointing afternoon in our last Barclays Women’s Super League fixture ahead of the international break, suffering a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa at Brisbane Road, where Jordan Nobbs’ stunning effort in the second half secured the three points for the visitors.

Although the 27-year-old knows that some performances haven’t been to the standard expected, Molly feels the group are starting to showcase the project being built at the Club but outlines it will take time.

“Having a new manager and new players will always take time to adapt but, as a group, we have really started to show that we are building as a Club,” Molly said.

“They are improvements in some areas in every game and, of course, we are not there yet and we are nowhere near where we want to be, but we are getting there and it’s just part of the process.

“We all know as players they are standards we want to set and some performances haven’t been up there, but we are learning from them and you need to do that if you really want to progress and move forward.”

Following the heavy defeat to Manchester City back in November, 2023, Robert has recently praised the defensive performances, where we conceded just four goals in five games and kept two clean sheets prior to Villa, and the defender has praised how the two new additions – Charlotte Grant and Amanda Nildén – have settled into the backline.

Molly added: “When new players come in, it does take time to adapt, however, I think they have settled in well. It’s an easy group to come into as everyone is very welcoming so it’s nice in that way.

“On the pitch, we have been a little bit more secured defensively, which is obviously positive since the big loss to Manchester City. We all looked at ourselves after that defeat, especially myself, at what we could do better. We weren’t proud of that.

“But I think as a group, it’s just now about trying to score more goals. The connections will come and sometimes it just takes time.”

Tickets available for Arsenal

We return to WSL action on Sunday (3 March) afternoon as we travel to Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal (kick-off 12.30pm) and tickets remain available to buy for the north London derby.