Defender Anouk Denton insists she and her teammates are determined to build on last weekend’s encouraging display against Barclays WSL leaders Chelsea when they welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Chigwell Construction Stadium on Easter Sunday.
The Hammers fell to a hard-fought 2-0 defeat at home to the Blues on their most recent outing, with a Honoka Hayashi goal being wrongly ruled out for offside in between several chances for Rehanne Skinner’s charges.
Rather than dwell on what might have been however, 20-year-old Denton - who featured for 82 minutes of that clash - preferred to focus on the positives ahead of the visit of the Seagulls, in which she is targeting all three points.
With five fixtures of 2023/24 remaining, eleventh-placed West Ham sit three spots and five points below Brighton, knowing a fourth win of the campaign could stretch their cushion above Bristol City in the drop zone to nine points.
“Having watched the Chelsea game back, there was frustration,” admitted Denton, who has started eight of her ten appearances in the league this term. “But overall, we did a lot of things right and we have to recognise that.
“We had a lot of clear-cut chances, and we had a lot of the ball against one of the top sides, which is something we haven’t always been able to do. We were relaxed, and we played really well.
“We’ve definitely carried that feeling into training this week, and we’re all really looking forward to the Brighton game. We know they’re a strong team - they’re good technically and they’re calm on the ball - but they’re in a similar position to us in the table and we’re confident we can exploit some of their weaknesses.”
Denton is particularly familiar with a handful of individuals within the Brighton set-up, having been picked alongside the South Coast side’s Poppy Pattinson, Maisie Symonds and Katie Robinson in Emma Coates’ most recent England Under-23 squad.
While the Irons’ No18 is hopeful of signing off for the international break with a win in the penultimate home match this season, she is excited to once again link-up with the Young Lionesses, who are set to host Sweden in Telford on Thursday 4 April.
“I know a few Brighton players from England camps, so it’d be good to get one over on them!” Denton added. “Winning games always brings energy to the team, so it’d be great if we could finish this block with a good result.
“It’s always exciting to get called up by England. They’re lining up our 23s game with the seniors, so we get to watch them against Sweden at Wembley as well, which will be great.
“Sweden have done really well in the new league format we’ve been playing in, so it will be a tough game for sure but hopefully we can get a result and I can come back to West Ham full of confidence.”
