‘A platform to build on’ – Harrison.

Harrison scored hers and City’s first goal of the 2020/21 Barclays FAWSL season as Tanya Oxtoby’s side opened the scoring against the North London outfit.

It would be a valiant display, but Jordan Nobbs expertly struck the ball into the far corner to bring the hosts level heading into half-time. City were then undone minutes after the break as Caitlin Foord tapped Arsenal in front, before Sophie Baggaley thwarted the hosts from going further ahead.

Ebony Salmon went close to equalising, but the pressure eventually told though when Vivianne Miedema capitalised on a ball over the top and she slotted home to wrap up the points.

But Harrison said City can take the positives and use those as a platform in their bid to build success in the weeks ahead.

“Yes I think we needed a response after the Chelsea game and we’ve been working hard in the past two weeks,” Harrison said, reflecting on an afternoon of hard work at a wet and windy Meadow Park. “So, it was nice to see that on the pitch. We didn’t get the three points but it gives us a place to jump on from in the next games and we think we can go and compete and get points on the board.

“We had a great start. It was lapses in concentration, so we’ll work on that, we’ll look at that and build on it for the next couple of games.”

Oxtoby’s team face London Bees in the FA Continental Cup on Wednesday (October 7th, 7.30pm) at Twerton Park before they return to league action against Aston Villa on Sunday (October 11th, 2pm KO). And for Harrison, looking ahead is important as she believes City can get their first wins of the campaign.

“I think looking ahead at the next three or four fixtures, we can compete in the cup and get points on the board in the league. We’ll look at what happened today, what we did well, what we need to work on and we’ll build off that for the next couple of games,” she said.