Carla Ward says she is pleased with her side's professional display in the Vitality Women's FA Cup on Sunday evening.
Aston Villa put on a clinical display in beating AFC Fylde 11-0 at Poundland Bescot Stadium, booking their place in the Fifth Round in the process.
The manager was quick to credit Sunday's opponents during her post-match interview:
“I must credit AFC Fylde," Ward stated.
"They came here and didn’t sit behind the ball. They stepped onto us and pressed us very early on."
"That’s a credit to them and the way they wanted to go about the game. But we’re delighted."
"Eight different goal-scorers, professional performance. We’re happy we’re into the next round.”
Villa's record against lower-league opposition hasn't been an emphatic one since Ward's arrival in 2021, but Sunday was an entirely different story as Rachel Daly struck inside the opening 90 seconds.
That goal set the tone for a ruthless evening, and the manager was impressed with what she saw.
“For the first 20 minutes we were excellent," beamed Ward.
"The message at half-time was to pick the pace back up. We wanted to make sure we continued creating."
"When Rach gets onto the scoresheet after a minute-or-so, that always helps. A couple of academy players on the pitch as well, so we’re delighted.”
You can watch Carla Ward's post-match interview, in full, below.
