Davies delighted with Nottingham Forest’s performance against Everton | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest head coach Carly Davies was delighted with her team’s performance as they drew 1-1 with top tier side Everton in the Subway Women’s League Cup on Sunday afternoon.

Aimee Claypole’s penalty put The Tricky Trees ahead early in the second half but Kelly Gago soon responded for the hosts at Goodison Park. Everton went on to claim the bonus point with a 4-3 penalty shootout success.

When speaking to the media after the match, Nottingham Forest boss Davies admitted that she was thrilled with her side’s performance.

“I’m absolutely delighted with today’s performance,” Davies said. “I don’t think you could really tell that much difference between the two sides. To say that obviously one’s a WSL [side] and one’s WSL2, I thought we frustrated them.

“We set up in a way to try and stop their rotations. They’re a very good side and I thought we really frustrated them and stopped them from being able to play in the spaces that they wanted to.”

Goalscorer Claypole has made an impressive start to life as a Nottingham Forest player after joining the club in the summer. Davies has been really pleased with what she’s seen from the forward so far.

She said “Aimee’s a very young talent. Obviously, she played a very specific style at Durham last year. Now, she’s adapting to a different style of football with us and she’s taken that in her stride.

“When she has been given those opportunities, she’s certainly taken them. She’s done that again with a really positive overall performance today and then she’s been rewarded with a great penalty finish. I’m delighted for her and delighted for the team.”

Nottingham Forest currently sit in sixth position in the Barclays WSL2 table. Davies spoke about the ambition that the club has and what it was like facing a top Barclays Women’s Super League side in Everton.

She said “This is where we want to be, we’re not hiding that fact. We have an ambitious owner and I’m ambitious myself to get back to the WSL. That’s the level that we want to be working at.

“I admire the football that Everton play, the way that Brian [Sørensen] sees the game and it’s nice to have a good challenge like we’ve had today, that’s what you want as head coaches. For me, it was more about the performance today; we’ve gone toe-to-toe with a very good Everton side that have some really big threats, individuals and we’ve more than held our own. I’m just delighted.”

Nottingham Forest return to action after the international break when they travel to Southampton on 2 November 2025.