Matt Beard believes his West Ham United team can take heart from their performance in Sunday's 4-2 home defeat against Arsenal.
Jane Ross had put the Hammers in front in the first match of 2019, and drawn the two teams level at 2-2 before half-time, but the Gunners showed their ability in the second period, securing the win.
The Irons boss was disappointed to see his side concede three goals from set plays, having lost the reverse fixture last year in similar fashion, but was proud of his side's efforts against the north London team.
We can take a lot of heart from our efforts. We took our chances and we pushed them all the way.
Matt Beard
"It was frustating to lose the game," Beard said. "I'm disappointed we've lost on set-plays again to Arsenal. From that side of things, it's annoying, but we can take a lot of positives from today's performance.
"We can take a lot of heart from our efforts. We took our chances and we've played what will probably be the champions. They're a very good footballing team and they're difficult to play against. Even with our back against the wall, we pushed them all the way.
"We can take many positives and now we need to focus on Wednesday night, against Manchester United."
West Ham had to cope without midfielder Julia Simic, who Beard confirmed had missed the game due to an injury sustained in training just 24 hours before Sunday's fixture.
The manager is hopeful that the German, as well as Leanne Kiernan and Erin Simon, will be okay for the next game.
He added: "This game was probably a couple of days too early for us in terms of one or two injuries we've had. We lost Julia Simic yesterday and we had to adjust one or two things last minute, and we missed her in midfield.
"The first thing is to hopefully get Simic, Leanne Kiernan and Erin Simon back fit for the game. We'll do recovery tomorrow and we'll turn our attention to United on Wednesday. Once we've played them we'll look at Man City; it's one game at a time."