Kirsty Smith says that West Ham United women’s team know that they need to raise their performance levels when they head to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
After a disappointing 5-0 defeat to Manchester City last weekend, the Irons are looking to respond positively as they head on their travels again, this time to Villa Park.
Defender Smith says that the team have worked well in training in the lead-up to the contest and hopes to leave the Midlands with points.
“We know that last weekend [against Manchester City] was not our standards, and it was really disappointing on our behalf,” Smith explained.
“At the same time, it's a chance to put it right this weekend and we've prepared well and worked hard this week to make sure that we're at our best at the weekend. Training this week has been really good, and we all know that we need to raise the levels and perform a lot better.”
Rehanne Skinner’s side made life difficult for themselves up in Manchester, finding themselves two goals down with only four minutes gone in the game, as they struggled to deal with the title challengers in the opening exchanges.
Smith says that the start of the game is something that the whole group need to learn from and take into the final three games of the season, which will also see them face Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur as the 2023/24 season reaches its conclusion.
“It's obviously a learning curve, and we know we can't start games like we did against City. We need to be at our best every game no matter who we're playing, and I think we need to set the standards of how we want to be as a team.
“We just need to get together, put things right and obviously make sure that we are at our best at the weekend.”
The Irons currently sit in 11th position in the standings in the Barclays Women’s Super League, and know that maximum points from the game against Villa would pull them to within a point of Leicester City heading into the clash next weekend at Chigwell Construction Stadium should the Foxes fail to get points from their fixture against Manchester United.
Smith wants the team to grasp the opportunity she feels they have to end the season strongly and ultimately finish higher in the table.
“There's opportunity there for us, and we want to grasp that. We want to make sure we get maximum points out these last three games and put ourselves in the best position.
“I think a lot of the results this season against some of the teams around us hasn't reflected our performance levels. We need to make sure that we get those right and then I believe the points will follow.
“There’s been times where that hasn’t happened this season, we’ve deserved more points from some the games. We’ve shown we can compete against the very best in the league, and we need to find those levels again in the final three matches,” Smith concluded.
