But our interim head coach says he’s proud of our desire and commitment to win for the Club at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Blues knew we had to collect three points over Marc Skinner’s side to give ourselves a chance of claiming the last Champions League qualification spot by the term’s end.
We then stormed into a two-goal lead thanks to Laia Aleixandri’s cool strike and Rebecca Knaak’s powerful header.
However, the hosts cancelled out our lead with strikes either side of half-time through Grace Clinton and Melvine Malard before the spoils were shared – confirming our fourth place finish this term.
Despite our frustration at full-time on missing out on European football, Cushing says City gave everything on the field.
“It’s painful, there is a lot of disappointment in there because I think you can see by the performance that the commitment was there and the desire to get the win today,” he said.
“Ultimately the challenge was too great for us in the sense of trying to push the game.
“The team’s very tired, we lost some players and lose Leila again. In the end it was just too much, but I’m proud of the character of the team.
“You can see the real will to win for Manchester City.
“When you have key players injured and have players on the pitch coming back from injury who haven’t played that much football, you’re almost trying to rely on the character of the team and the real desire to get over the line.
“The game swung on a moment. For us, if we can create some bigger opportunities in the second half and take the game to three-one, I think we get over the line and get three points.
“But at two-one Manchester United were still in it, you can see they got the direct ball in the box and got the moment.”
Watch Cushing’s full interview in the video player above…
