Results breed confidence and, for Verena Hanshaw and West Ham United women’s team, they head into their trip to Crystal Palace full of it.
Following last Saturday’s stalemate with third-place Manchester United, the Hammers travel to the Barclays Women’s Super League’s basement side with a four-game unbeaten run spurring them on, having fended off challenges from Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea prior to holding the Red Devils to a point in east London.
Austria international Hanshaw, who since signing for the Club in January has started every league game under Rehanne Skinner, was part of the defence that shut up shop against visiting Manchester United at the weekend, and once again enjoyed testing herself against one of the division’s big-hitters.
“I’ve really enjoyed [the last month of games],” she said. “I think from January, from the time I came to the Club, to now, we have made a massive improvement, and that makes it even more fun to play against those sorts of teams.
“To play at the same level [as those sides], it's the best feeling you can have. It's so much fun!
“I think defensively [against Manchester United] it was a really, really good game from us, from the whole team. We had some chances to win the game actually, but I think the one point is super important for us, and now we're looking forward to the next game.
“A clean sheet is always good, especially for us defenders, we don’t always get credit that much. It was a really good feeling to get a clean sheet, but it also shows how much we have improved as a team.”
While the Hammers have faced all of the top four sides in their last five matches, attentions turn to a game against bottom-of-the-table Palace on Sunday, who could be relegated if they are to suffer a repeat of the reverse fixture - a loss to Skinner’s side.
It was a magical December afternoon at Chigwell Construction Stadium, as Viviane Asseyi, Seraina Piubel, Manuela Paví, Anouk Denton and captain Katrina Gorry inspired the women’s team to a come-from-behind victory.
Since the three points in Dagenham, the then Palace manager Laura Kaminski, who guided the club to the WSL for the first time in 2023/24, left the Eagles in February, and was succeeded by Norwegian manager Leif Smerud.
Under the 48-year-old’s tenure, Palace have tasted victory once from five matches in all competitions, but despite their position in the standings, Hanshaw is aware of their threat as they look to claw themselves out of the relegation position.
“I think it could be a difficult game, but I think it's up to us to make sure it’s not.” she said. “They're going to put everything in and we need to make sure we do the same, or even put more in. We're coming from different directions, but I'm sure that we can win it.
“'I’m feeling good, we're feeling good and the training has been good. I think we just can be really confident at the weekend. We stand where we are in the table for a reason, and hope that we can bring this confidence on the pitch.”
While Hanshaw, who joined the Club in January from AS Roma, was not involved in the 5-2 turnaround against Palace, she has seen how well Skinner’s side attacked on that afternoon and is keen to replicate it at the VBS Community Stadium on Sunday.
“We actually watched [the game] in a meeting,” she said. “We watched the goals we scored and I think that gave us a really good feeling.
“We know that we’ve been able to do that before, it's just on the day, it's super important that everyone brings 100 per cent.”
It is no secret that Hanshaw and forward Shekiera Martinez are close friends, having spent six years together at Eintracht Frankfurt before they both made moves to east London in 2024/25.
They have both hit the ground running in Claret and Blue, and Martinez was awarded for her outstanding performances with the WSL Player of the Month award for March. And our No19 could not have been more humble when she broke the news to Hanshaw.
“She [Martinez] said, ‘I have an interview because I got Player of the Month', but she was not like ‘I got Player of the Month!'” explained Hanshaw. “I was so, so happy for her. I don’t think she really expected it and I think it also surprised her a little bit.
“We know that she's a really good player. From January to now, to do so great, she has my biggest respect. I'm her biggest cheerleader!”
