By Shannon McLouglan in Nice for City media
Scotland suffered a defeat on Sunday as they were beaten 2-1 in their opening FIFA Women’s World Cup match against England.
Two Glasgow City players started the match for the Scots as Lee Alexander started between the sticks and Nicola Docherty played 54 minutes at left back.
Speaking after the game, Alexander was left deflated by their result, but she was quick to praise the fans that supported them.
She said: “Unfortunately today we came away with a 2-1 defeat, but I think we’ve got positives to look forward to but ultimately we have to say a huge thanks to fans that all came out to support.”
Despite going in at half-time 2-0 down, Scotland produced a much improved second half performance which saw Claire Emslie grab a goal back for the side. But that was the only slice of luck Scotland got from the game as they were ultimately left empty handed heading into their next fixture against Japan on Friday.
Alexander explained what changes were made at half time for her and her side which sparked a potential come back on the game.
“I think our shape (changed in the second half), we wanted to get on the ball a little bit more,” she said.
“England obviously pressed us first half and I don’t think we dealt with it as best as we could, but we found pockets of space and got Caroline (Weir) and Kim (Little) on the ball, our flair players really higher up.”
Chances were hard to come by throughout the game for Scotland and Alexander gave her views on why her side struggled to create in the final third.
She said: “I think in the first half we were a bit too deep.
“We could obviously get Claire (Emslie) on 1v1s and that’s her strong point and you know on her day she can beat anyone.
“There was good link up play with her and Lisa (Evans) to obviously get the goal but ultimately I don’t think we created as many chances as we would’ve liked too.”
The Glasgow ‘keeper produce a stellar personal performance in goal for the side as she denied the Lionesses on several occasions to keep her team in the game. But with the squad as a whole on her mind she took no satisfaction from her own impressive performance.
The 27-year-old admitted: “You just want to make sure you just win the game; I think personal performance goes out the window as long as you get the three points on the board.
“You have to put your body on the line, and I think all of us did that today.”
Looking ahead to their next group game against Japan on Friday afternoon Alexander believes her side can do better to ensure they collect some well needed points.
“(We should) maybe be a bit braver on the ball and try and get turned early,” she continued.
“We were pressed high up maybe we didn’t deal with that as much or as good as we probably should have but it is what it is.
“We’ve obviously got a lot of time and we’ve got a top squad over here and it’s a different game when we approach Japan, they’re a very different in terms of style of play so we just need to pick ourselves up.”