Jasmine Matthews made some great challenges for us on the day and a fully fit Jas is a fantastic talent.I remember when I was at Bristol City and I lost her for the season, that was the final nail in our coffin really because she is that good. She is a fantastic talent, so good with the ball and so good with her one-v-one defending.I thought everyone did well against Arsenal, the substitutes I brought on as well and Yana [Daniels] did well when she came on.We know where we are now coming into this break and we know what we have to do in the second half of the season.As always, our ambition is to try to improve on what we did last year, but that is going to be tough now for sure. If you look at the league table now compared to last year, there is a massive gap. We were in on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and now the players and staff are off for Christmas. We are back in on December 31.We all need a break now. I think everyone is physically and mentally ready for a break because it has been such a slog.The medical staff have been working tirelessly with the injuries that we’ve had and we’ve been working tirelessly looking at how to deal with that and using different systems because of the hand we have been dealt with over the course of this season.It has been tough. To only have three midfielders and three forwards available last week has been really tough and the midfield area is where we need to address in January.From our end, if I have a fully fit squad to choose from I think we are OK. But if we don’t then results are put at risk.I know the depth of the squad is challenging for us but, as I always say, we can only work with what we’ve got.I know we could be in a better position and the injuries to key players haven’t helped. So, we have to make sure in 2025 we don’t repeat those same injury issues we have had in the first half of the season

Matt Beard's Christmas message to supporters, fitness update and hopes for 2025

Jasmine Matthews made some great challenges for us on the day and a fully fit Jas is a fantastic talent. I remember when I was at Bristol City and I lost her for the season, that was the final nail in our coffin really because she is that good. She is a fantastic talent, so […]

Jasmine Matthews made some great challenges for us on the day and a fully fit Jas is a fantastic talent.

I remember when I was at Bristol City and I lost her for the season, that was the final nail in our coffin really because she is that good. She is a fantastic talent, so good with the ball and so good with her one-v-one defending.

I thought everyone did well against Arsenal, the substitutes I brought on as well and Yana [Daniels] did well when she came on.

We know where we are now coming into this break and we know what we have to do in the second half of the season.

As always, our ambition is to try to improve on what we did last year, but that is going to be tough now for sure. If you look at the league table now compared to last year, there is a massive gap.

We were in on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and now the players and staff are off for Christmas. We are back in on December 31.

We all need a break now. I think everyone is physically and mentally ready for a break because it has been such a slog.

The medical staff have been working tirelessly with the injuries that we’ve had and we’ve been working tirelessly looking at how to deal with that and using different systems because of the hand we have been dealt with over the course of this season.

It has been tough. To only have three midfielders and three forwards available last week has been really tough and the midfield area is where we need to address in January.

From our end, if I have a fully fit squad to choose from I think we are OK. But if we don’t then results are put at risk.

I know the depth of the squad is challenging for us but, as I always say, we can only work with what we’ve got.

I know we could be in a better position and the injuries to key players haven’t helped. So, we have to make sure in 2025 we don’t repeat those same injury issues we have had in the first half of the season – we need to get that right.