The Wembley curtain-raiser to the 2020/21 campaign against the reigning FA Women’s Super League champions proved a frustrating one for Gareth Taylor’s squad.
Hampered by the dismissal of Jill Scott after two yellow cards midway through the second half, City were then undone by goals from Millie Bright and Erin Cuthbert.
Reflecting on the loss however, full-back Morgan – who produced an accomplished display – insisted the sight of seeing Chelsea lift the trophy would act as the perfect motivator for the City squad ahead of this weekend’s start of the new league season.
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“This will only give us a lot more drive and determination to turn things around in the season and compete for all the other trophies that are available,” the youngster declared.
“Watching them celebrate and throw the champagne around hurts a lot and makes the disappointment really intense
“But I think when we look back and reflect, we’ll find the things we could have improved on and go back into training and work even harder to put it right.
“There are five other trophies this season to challenge for. This is just the first one.
“The FA Cup from last season is the next one available, before then we will focus on our league games ahead of us and then attention will turn to the quarter finals of the FA Cup
“There is so much still to compete for and seeing them celebrate makes us even more determined to win them.”
Having spent least season furthering her experience on loan at Everton, Morgan and fellow youngster Chloe Kelly - who joined City from the Toffees in the summer - were both selected to start in the high-profile match which was televised live on the BBC.
The pair justified the faith shown in them by manager Gareth Taylore with both producing hugely encouraging displays which augurs well for the rest of the season.
And, for her part, Morgan says being selected for such a big occasion was a major confidence booster.
“I think it was really exciting for both Chloe and I to be part of such a huge game. It’s testament to the faith that manager has put in us,” the teenager added.
“I think he’s given both of us a lot of confidence coming into the team that we can play in these games.
“So, on a personal note it was an amazing occasion – it’s something I’ll look back on and be proud that I’ve done but the main emotion for now is one of disappointment given the result.
“I think in the first half we struggled a bit with our pressing and we didn’t get enough pressure on the ball which meant there were able to play through us a bit easier than we would have like.
“Their keeper made some really big saves in the first half and we were obviously unlucky in hitting the post and then in the second half I think the game just ran away from us and we struggled to get out
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“Losing Jill was also unfortunate, and it came at a key point in the game when the momentum was shifting back and forwards.
“I didn’t really see what happened to be honest - I just saw the referee pull out the red card.
“Obviously we then had to re-organise and it made things a lot more difficult for us to get up to the ball and press them as they had a spare player so I think that did swing it in their favour.”
