Rehanne Skinner has said that West Ham United women's team need to enjoy their final four matches of the 2023/24 campaign.
The Hammers are searching for points in their remaining fixtures to secure their place in the top division for next season on their own terms. The gap to bottom club Bristol City stands at six points, meaning that any points gained will go a long way to helping their cause.
After two weeks without a competitive fixture, Skinner's side head north to face Manchester City, who currently sit joint top of the Barclays Women's Super League standings and are on a 12-game winning streak.
The West Ham United manager is certainly not taking the game lightly and knows the quality that the Citizens possess. However, in Thursday's pre-match press conference, Skinner called on her side to continue moving in a positive direction, take their chances when they arrive and enjoy the moments of being out on the pitch in the final matches of the season.
Read on for the key talking points from her press conference…
The City test
It won’t be an easy game against City, they’re in really good form at the moment.
We’re working as hard as we can off the back of the international break, getting everyone back together. We had a friendly last weekend and we wanted to try and make sure that we’ve got everyone back on track with things.
Ultimately, it’s going to be a real test of concentration and the way that we’re trying to play. We need to make sure that we capitalise on the chances when we get them and make sure that we’re really organised defensively because they’re a good team.
Taking chances
I think sometimes we haven’t been clinical enough or ruthless enough in moments. I think if we weren’t creating chances then that’s obviously a bigger issue. In the game against Brighton, we had several chances, so that was a little bit frustrating. In terms of training, we’re doing well with that, it’s just about converting it over to those key moments.
We have been able to score some key goals in big games this season, for example against Arsenal and Manchester United which helped us pick up really valuable points.
We need to make sure that we take those chances a little more positively when we get them.
Team news and the international break
At the moment, we’ve obviously got the ongoing situation with Kristie Mewis and Katrina Gorry. Abbey-Leigh Stringer is making good progress. It’s not a guarantee, but we’re hopeful to have her back for the end of the season.
Other than that, players have come back from the international break, some have had more game time than others, but everyone is in good shape.
[The breaks] can be disruptive, but sometimes going away and having a change of scenery works positively for the players that do go on international duty.
Taking the positives and moving in the right direction
This year, ultimately, there’s been a lot of work for us off the pitch as much as on the pitch, in terms of building the foundations behind the scenes. There’s always a lot to do over the course of the first season [when you join the Club] as things move forward.
I think where we are now, where we’ve got the levels of performance to, we haven’t had the results that we’d have liked to have had. In some instances, we feel like we could have had more points out of some games, but this is where we are.
Things are moving in the right direction, with a lot of positives going on. We’ve just got to make sure we keep working really hard for the last four games of the season and enjoy it.
