West Ham United Ladies defender Chenise Austin is hoping for a winning return to her former club when the Hammers take on Swindon Town Ladies on Sunday.
The centre-back joined the Irons in July 2017 on the back of an excellent campaign with Swindon, and has impressed since linking up with the east London side.
Her presence in defence has helped the Hammers on an impressive run of form. The team is unbeaten in 2018 – a run extending six matches in all competitions – with West Ham conceding just twice in that time.
“We’re very happy”, Austin told whufc.com. “It definitely puts a lot of smiles on faces. At the end of the day, football is something we love doing and it’s always nice to be winning and to be performing well together.
Since the New Year, we’ve come out and played well, and we want to continue that this weekend
Chenise Austin
“The team has really clicked recently. I suppose you could say ‘new year, new start’. We’ve had a bit of pressure off of us, because we’ve played a few cup games in that time. They count, but in a different way.”
She continued: “I think it comes down to attitude. Since the New Year, we’ve come out and played well, and we want to continue that this weekend.”
The ladies go into Sunday’s game on the back of a 7-0 defeat of Keynsham Town, while this weekend’s opponents remain rooted to the bottom of the Women's Premier South division after a loss to C&K Basildon.
Austin is looking forward to her return to the club that she played at for three years and to gracing the field at Fairford once again.
The Hammers have claimed four wins in their six matches so far in 2018, with draws in the other two games, with three of those victories coming on the road.
In those contests, Karen Ray's side have netted an incredible 16 goals, with the Hammers scoring six in consecutive away games during January.
A win on Sunday would be West Ham's fifth of the season in the league.