West Ham United Ladies have reinforced their playing squad with the signing of no fewer than three new players.
The Hammers have snapped up highly-rated forward Hannah Gowland from Colchester United, 19-year-old midfielder Anelle Massey from Gillingham and 18-year-old midfielder Katie Sheppard from Charlton Athletic.
West Ham supporter Sheppard made her Hammers debut in Sunday's 2-2 FA Women's Premier League Cup group stage draw with Colchester - a result that knocked Julia Setford's side out of the competition, despite them losing just one of their four group matches.
Zoe Lipley-Hinton put the Hammers in front but a disputed penalty drew the hosts level. Sam Rowlands also found the target for the visitors, only for Colchester to net a second goal of their own to secure a share of the spoils.
Prolific forward Gowland is a coach at Southend United. She was part of the Colchester side that beat West Ham on penalties in last season's Essex FA County Cup final in April.
Student Massey is a West Ham fan whose favourite player is Jack Collison. Her previous clubs include the Charlton Athletic Centre of Excellence, Australian side Melbourne Fusion and MPS Lady Crusaders, who play in the American state of Massachussets. She has made two appearances this month for West Ham's reserve team.
Sheppard, Gowland and Massey will hope to feature when they recommence their FA Women's Premier League Southern Division campaign at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. The Ladies go into the weekend fourth in the table, eight points behind leaders Reading but with two games in-hand.
Kick-off at Thurrock FC's Ship Lane stadium is at 2pm.