‘We will bounce back’ – Southampton will respond to Blackburn Rovers defeat says Purfield

Southampton captain Jemma Purfield says that the team will bounce back from yesterday’s 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at St Mary’s Stadium.

Despite dominating the play, Southampton were unable to take any points against a well-drilled Rovers side on the south coast.

When speaking to the media after the match, Purfield acknowledged the disappointing result but said that Southampton can pick themselves up and bounce back.

“Definitely a lot of disappointment, but that’s football sometimes,” Purfield said. “It’s the harsh reality of it and we will bounce back from this.

“We’re three games into a very long season. We’re upset, we’re annoyed, but we will bounce back and we’re a good group to do that.

“We’ll have to watch it back and reflect. Credit to Blackburn, they came with a game plan and they executed it and that’s this league to a tee. Anybody can beat anybody and we’ve just got to keep focused on our task and build for the next game.

Southampton failed to convert a number of chances in the game but Purfield wasn’t overly concerned by the team’s failure to find the back of the net.

She said “There were some really good spells in the game and there were some tough points. It’s a 90-minute game of football, so we’ll just reflect on that.

“We’ll make sure that we’re converting chances and we’ll just keep building. It’s a long process, it’s a long season and we’re still in the early days.

“We’ve got to take each game as it comes. We’ve got to reflect and move on quickly and we’re glad to have another game back here next week, so that’ll be our focus.”

Purfield is now in her second year at Southampton and she was recently named captain for this season. The player spoke briefly about the honour of leading the team.

She said “It’s a real honour. It’s a massive football club, it’s a great football club and it’s felt like home since I’ve been here. I’m just honoured that I could lead these girls out.”

Southampton return to Barclays Women’s Championship action on Sunday when Sheffield United are the visitors to St Mary’s Stadium.