By Aston Villa FC

Carla Ward has heaped praised on Remi Allen for scoring a ‘priceless goal’ against West Ham United on Saturday.

Aston Villa Women were heading towards a first defeat of the season after Adriana Leon’s first-half opener for the Hammers, but Allen popped up in stoppage time to head past Mackenzie Arnold and secure a vital point.

When asked after the game about Allen’s runs from deep, Ward spoke glowingly.

“She does it so well,” the manager said.

“She was outstanding during the last 10-15 minutes, rallying the troops and still trying to get beyond Emily [Gielnik].

“She’s come up with a priceless goal.”

As was the case following our opening day win over Leicester City, Ward admitted once more that the slow start against West Ham was a disappointing aspect to what has generally been a positive start to the season.

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“The character we’ve shown to go in search of a goal is massive,” said the boss.

“We weren’t good enough for 30 minutes, and we know that isn’t acceptable.

“After that, we grew into the game and were a lot better.

“We created more in the second half. Overall, they were there for the taking.

“Slightly disappointed with a point, but content with the fact we’re going into the break without being beaten.”

Villa’s resilience has been unquestionably on display through the first two games of the 2021/22 campaign, but Ward is keen to avoid more slow starts after the international break.

“First and foremost I’ll look at myself,” she confessed.

“The buck stops with me. We’ve got to make sure that we’re putting them [players] in a position to start brightly.

“We might have to adapt and tweak a couple of things with timings, but we’ve got to make sure it stops happening.

“We’ve conceded two goals this season through our own errors.”

Villa continue their campaign against table-toppers Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday 26th September. Kick-off at The People’s Pension Stadium is at 2pm (UK time).

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