MANCHESTER CITY captain Alex Greenwood was shocked by the news of Gareth Taylor’s sacking on Monday evening but says she trusts the decision the club have made.

A day on from beating Aston Villa 2-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals and five out from facing Chelsea in the League Cup final, City — currently fourth in the Women’s Super League table — announced boss Taylor’s tenure had been ended, with Nick Cushing returning to take interim charge for the rest of the season.

Saturday’s contest will be the first of four successive meetings with Chelsea, which also includes two legs of a Champions League quarter-final.

Greenwood said: “A bit of a whirlwind 24 hours. A lot to process, a lot to digest.

“My role as the captain is to bring the team together and make sure the focus remains the same, and that’s on the final on Saturday and the run of games we’ve got coming up.

“I was shocked by the news, of course. I wasn’t expecting that news yesterday. But this is football and it’s business.

“The positive thing is bringing Nick in straight away, a figure that’s been here before, done it and been successful. I think that’s a really positive move.”

City have lost four times in their last nine league games and were held 1-1 at West Ham last Wednesday. They are 12 points behind leaders Chelsea, who they finished as runners-up to on goal difference last season, and outside the Champions League places by a point having played a game more than third-placed Arsenal.

In City’s statement on Monday, managing director Charlotte O’Neill said the club prided themselves on “competing at the top of the WSL” and their “outstanding record of qualifying for European competition,” adding that “results this season have so far not reached this high standard.”

Greenwood said: “I trust the decision the club have made, I have to. Of course, I don’t want to see anyone lose their job, but it’s a decision that was made and we have to trust in it, we have to move forward with it.”

The defender added that her understanding was that the decision was “purely results-based.”

In February goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck, who moved from City to Barcelona last summer, said in an interview with BBC Sport that she “felt like maybe my relationship with the manager [Taylor] got fractured.”