Kelly Chambers reflected as Reading FC’s future in the Women’s Super League hangs in the balance after a damaging away defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
The Royals need a final day miracle to maintain their top flight status. They will need to beat Chelsea, who can seal the WSL title with a win, and have to hope Leicester City fail to beat Brighton.
Reading made their task of securing safety even more tricky with a dismal 4-1 loss at Spurs.
“It was a case of two different halves which contributed to the result,” said Chambers.
“After the first-half I said to the girls that we didn’t work hard enough. It was too easy for Tottenham to pass it around, there was no aggression so we changed it at half-time.
“The chances helped, but then it was a case of individual errors which cost us a further two goals when we had to try and stay in the game.
“This was a game we knew we had to take points from and we’venot stepped up when we needed to, and made it harder on ourselves.”
Heading into the final weekend, Chambers admitted that her side are under pressure in an uphill task.
She continued: “There was pressure when stepping out on the pitch, but not doing the basics hurt us and it’s now a really tough game next weekend.
“Obviously in football you can never say never, but I’m a realist. When you look at the table, form, you can expect how certain results will go.
“Many have said over the years this is perhaps a position we should have found ourselves in a while back, but it’s credit to the staff and players who have been her a while giving everything.
“We’ve seen the growth of the women’s game, the injection of finances available, and there comes a point where you just can’t keep up.
“When you reflect on all these factors it’s really difficult. I’m hurting, we’re all hurting.”
