Marcus Bignot insists the performances of Aston Villa Women are improving, despite a third successive defeat on Wednesday.
Villa fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion, leaving them just one point above the Barclays FA Women's Super League relegation zone with seven games to play.
“Result-wise, a hard one to take" admitted Bignot after the game.
"The performance was a huge step in the right direction again.
"I said to the players before the game that we were facing a team that are in-form.
"They’ve gathered momentum. They’ve found a way to win. They’ve created an environment and a culture, but they’ve been together for a long time."
As has been the case so far this season, there have been plenty of positives to take from games and into the next.
The pressure is now on to turn those performances into wins, but Bignot is confident he has seen enough over the last two months to suggest our top-flight status will be maintained.
"My biggest takeaway is that we’re going in the right direction" the interim manager said with defiance.
"The group of players out there gave their all.
"They’ve been good all week and have made selection difficult.
"They’re now understanding what it takes to be successful at this level and to embrace the situation that we’re in.
"They’re performing under experiences they’ve not been used to. I have no doubt they’re going to come through these uncomfortable experiences.”
Bignot's resounding faith in his squad continued, as the interim manager pointed towards the recent level of opposition his team has faced as a reason for evident rust in front of goal.
“We’ve made huge strides tonight. I’m seeing signs. The result says two-nil. That’s the reality.
"We’ve got to face the reality and accept that.
"Supporters have seen that they’ve given everything.
"We lacked quality around the final third but that’s expected.
"We haven’t spent a lot of time in the final third due to the quality of opposition we’ve been facing.
"We’ll be ok.”