Emma Harries says that Rehanne Skinner has instilled a never-say-die attitude in West Ham United women's team, which will benefit them throughout the season.
The 21-year-old was speaking after making her competitive debut for the Hammers in a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at Chigwell Construction Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Irons battled hard against Gareth Taylor's Citizens, but were eventually undone by two pieces of quality from Lauren Hemp and Jill Roord early in the second half - with both of those goals coming either side of a Mackenzie Arnold penalty save.
Harries entered the pitch in the 60th minute, replacing fellow debutant Riko Ueki. The young forward played a huge part in the closing stages, with Leila Ouahabi given her marching orders after her challenge on Harries was deemed excessive.
And whilst the Hammers huffed and puffed, they couldn't find a way through a stubborn Manchester City defence.
Harries spoke to West Ham TV at the final whistle, reflecting on making her competitive debut for the Club, the style of play and next weekend's fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Emma, how did it feel to make your Claret & Blue debut today?
I’m delighted to make my debut today. We're obviously disappointed with the result, but I thought that we put in a really good performance and hopefully this puts us in good stead going into the fixture that we have coming up.
I think we were able to show the desire that we have as a team out there today. We're still learning as a group and Rehanne has instilled that never-say-die attitude within us. I think that's a great characteristic to have as a squad.
You're playing in a way where the manager wants you to have confidence on the ball, did you enjoy coming on and playing in that way during the second half?
Absolutely. We've played a number of matches in pre-season, but there's nothing like a league game, and this was our first proper test. We went up against a very good Manchester City team, and I thought, to our credit, we performed really well in areas.
I think we can take our second half performance, particularly the final 15 minutes forward with us into the games to come. The only thing that was really missing from our play was a goal.
We know that it's going to be a process, but we have a good squad here with a mix of experienced and younger players. I think we will find the right balance and come out on top in matches to come.
Brighton are up next, are there positives the team can take going into that game?
Yes, definitely. Brighton will be a really good test for us. We feel as though we've performed well here today against a strong City side, and we know that there are areas to improve on heading into the next game.
It will be a different kind of game, a different test. We need to make sure we have a good week of work on the training ground to prepare right, and hopefully we will come away with some points from the game.
Read further reaction from Rehanne Skinner and Kirsty Smith after the defeat to Manchester City now! You can also watch highlights from the match by clicking here!
