Crystal Palace head coach Jo Potter stated that Palace could have ‘maybe one more’ player through the door this January window.
Potter was speaking after her Crystal Palace side had lost 5-0 against an inspired Chelsea side at Kingsmeadow. Palace showed grit and determination but were eventually overwhelmed by Chelsea’s quality and exited the FA Cup.
Potter spoke to the press following the match and The Halfway Line was present to hear from the former England international.
Jo Potter bemoans ‘fine margins’ in Chelsea defeat
Chelsea and Crystal Palace came into this match as two of the most on form sides in the country but it was the holders that came out on top. Potter was asked for her assessment of a difficult encounter against the reigning domestic treble holders,
“It’s tough” Potter said.
“You know, we know that it’s fine margins against teams like this. There’s certain moments that you can potentially get away with in your own league that you can’t get away with it at this level, playing against world class players.
“They can’t really put out a second string team because they’ve got two first teams. In my opinion, they put out a really strong line up, which we thought showed the level that they’re at and the level that we’ve been playing at lately.
“So, yeah, it’s a tough, tough one to take in terms of small, little things. But you know, we stayed in it till the end. We gave everything. And you know, I think you can see us improving week in and week out.”
‘We wanted to test ourselves’ says Jo Potter
Chelsea showed Palace real respect with their line up, not even Hannah Hampton got a rest with a strong eleven sent out against Jo Potter’s charges. The Halfway Line asked Potter if that felt like an endorsement of the job she is doing at the club,
“I think you look at our Arsenal game, probably you can see the performance that we put in there. We created a lot more chances against Arsenal too.
“So I think they [Chelsea] could probably see potential. You know, it’s always tough, isn’t it, you’re in a no win situation in Sonia’s [Bompastor’s] position, because you probably need to rotate with the games that are coming up.
“But the chance of doing that and potentially having a slip up or banana skin, then it looks very different. So they they went strong. We wanted them to go strong as well.
“We wanted to test ourselves. You want to put yourself against the best. And you know, we did. We did well in large parts. It was just those fine little margins that that let us down in the end.”
Hayley Ladd brings ‘real calmness’ to Palace lauds Potter
Crystal Palace have already brought in both Hayley Ladd and Kelly Brady so far this January window. Potter explained the impact that Ladd has already had in a short period of time,
“She brings real calmness to the team. She’s a calm character in general. You know, she’s like that off the pitch too” Potter said.
“There’s nothing you know that’s really loud, really screaming. She’s a real calming influence on the group, and I think that really helps. She goes about doing her job seamlessly. She does little things and gets little toes, gets little headers. That makes such a difference for us.
“So you got to remember she’s not played much in the last six months either. So you know, it was a tough one for her today. She managed to get 45 minutes on Monday.
“We knew that it was going to be a big shift for today. As she keeps getting those minutes in the bank, she’s only going to get better.”
As for whether there could be any further signings before the window slams shut, Potter admitted with a smile,
“Maybe one more” she laughed
“It’s a little bit like that at the moment. So if it yeah, maybe one more but maybe not!”
