West Ham United really looking forward to London City Lionesses challenge says Skinner | OneFootball

West Ham United manager Rehanne Skinner says that her side are really looking forward to facing London City Lionesses this afternoon.

The Hammers travel to the Copperjax Community Stadium in Bromley for their latest Barclays Women’s Super League outing.

West Ham United are winless in the league so far this season but they defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 in the Subway Women’s League Cup in midweek. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, West Ham United boss Skinner said that victory over The Seagulls has helped boost confidence ahead of the London City Lionesses match.

“One hundred percent [lots of positives], there have been really good spells in games,” Skinner said. “The better version of us was when we went down to 10 players against Chelsea; it kind of kick-started the attitude and approach, the mentality that we are known for.

“Against [Aston] Villa, we did a good pressing job but just didn’t create enough. If you look at the opportunities and the entries into the final third, box entries, all of that increased again on Wednesday night. Bit-by-bit, the opportunities that we created just led to a little bit more confidence in and around the final third.

“It’s a much better picture to where we are and what we are trying to do.”

West Ham United face London City Lionesses for the first time in the top flight and Skinner says that her players are really up for the challenge.

She said “We know it’s going to be a tough game. We played them last year but it’s not the same team, it’s a completely new opponent for us, so that’s always a different challenge. It’s one that the players are really looking forward to following on from the positive week that we’ve had in terms of performance.”

This afternoon’s fixture is Skinner’s 100th in Barclays Women’s Super League management and she reflected on the growth of the game over the last 14 years.

She said “The way that the game has grown, it’s just positive to see it’s increasing, although we still have some work to do. The support has increased around the players in the time that I’ve been in the WSL.

“I had two-and-a-half years as an assistant at the very start, so seeing it from 2011 to now, it’s very different. When I think back to the staff that we had at Arsenal and the support around the players, obviously it wasn’t even professional at that point. When you look at the contrast between the eras, that’s a significant difference.

“The biggest thing for me is that I like the challenge of how the game’s grown; the things that you have to work on and constantly be ready for. Players’ professionalism has improved significantly; the way that they are able to take onboard information and the way that they action it has grown significantly in the last five or six years as well.

“Every day, you turn up at training or at games and you have to be at your very best, fighting for everything. I think that challenge is something that I really enjoy.”

West Ham United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at London City Lionesses kicks-off at 12pm.