Olli Harder is hoping that West Ham United can get back to winning ways at the Chigwell Construction Stadium this evening.
The Hammers take on Manchester United, and a win could further cement their place in the top six of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
And they were without defeat at their home ground this season in the league until the arrival of Chelsea last week.
But Harder hopes that his side can bounce back in front of their own supporters and continue their march up the table.
“It’s going to be a tough game, but it’s one that we’re looking forward to,” Harder told whufc.com.
“The games have been coming thick and fast over the past week, but it’s another chance for us to go out there and put in a good performance in front of our home fans.
“Our goal is to finish as high up the table as we can come the end of the season, and we’re slowly but surely creeping up to the end of the campaign.
“Getting something on Wednesday evening would be brilliant, but we know that we need to earn the right to those points."
Harder’s side picked up their sixth league win of the season on Sunday, beating bottom side Birmingham City by a solitary goal at St Andrew’s.
The New Zealander was pleased to see Adriana Leon back on the scoresheet, her first since returning from injury, but is also hoping to see minor improvements in the teams quality on the ball.
“Against Birmingham, I thought that we weren’t at our usual performance levels – but the togetherness and work-rate of the team was never in question.
“We lacked a little bit of quality on the ball and with our forward play, but we were resilient, and ground out what could be an important win come the end of the season.
“I’m really pleased for Adriana to be back amongst the goals – it’s a fine reward for all of her hard work and it was pleasing from the team’s point of view to score from a well worked set-piece, so credit to my players and staff for their work on that.”
Manchester United arrive in Dagenham looking to firmly cement their place within the top three, and Harder isn’t taking Marc Skinner’s side lightly and is aware of the quality that the former Orlando Pride boss has at his disposal.
“Manchester United have shown consistently throughout the season that they’re a very good team, and it does seem strange that this is the first time that we are coming up against them this season.
“They have some real quality within their ranks, so we’re going to have to make sure that we start well and put in a good performance,” he concluded.
Tickets for the match against the Red Devils are available to purchase by clicking here or alternatively, you can watch the match on the FA Player.
We will also be bringing you live Twitter updates, as well as exclusive reaction to follow after the full-time whistle right here on whufc.com.
