Matt Beard admitted that his West Ham United side are coming through a tough period but has backed his players to stick together and come through the tricky spell.
The Irons suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Reading in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League on Wednesday evening, leaving the Hammers without a victory in the last three matches.
With two postponed games in 2020 to also contend with, Beard acknowledged his side have been struggling but knows his team has the quality to come through and claim points in the coming matches.
We’ve got plenty of points still to play for. We need to regroup and fight for as many points as we can.
Matt Beard
“We’re struggling at the moment and I think that’s clear to see,” the head coach said. “Obviously their second goal, for us, killed the game. Adams Park is a tough place to come for every team. When you’re in a run like we’re in, it’s tough for everyone.
“I’m really frustrated with the two goals. I felt we perhaps should have had a penalty for a foul on Martha Thomas in the first-half as well. But we’ve got plenty of points still to play for. We need to stick together. We need to regroup and fight for as many points as we can.”
With West Ham out of the FA Cup, the team’s next game will come at home to Liverpool a week on Sunday, with Beard giving his side a couple of days off to refresh heading into the match.
The head coach is optimistic is side will return to training early next week fully focused and ready to prepare for a big home match against Liverpool; a game that will also be his 50th competitive fixture in charge of the Hammers.
He added: “If you look at the run of fixtures we’ve had, we’ve had Arsenal, Chelsea, supposed to play Manchester City and also Reading; the teams that traditionally finish in the top four of this division. It was always going to be a tough January and February for us.
“We’ve got a few days off now which allows the players time off to go and be with their families, regroup, and comeback fully focused in time for the big game we’ve got coming up against Liverpool.
“With the few days off, everyone as the chance to switch off and come back refreshed and focused. Hopefully we can comeback now, fully focus, and be ready for a tough game against Liverpool.”
