Rehanne Skinner is hoping that West Ham United women’s team can build on the momentum from their historic first Barclays Women’s Super League win over Arsenal in their upcoming fixture against Everton.
The Hammers are heading into the decisive point of the season full of confidence after back-to-back league victories for the first time this season, having beaten both the Gunners and Bristol City 2-1 respectively.
Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday's trip to Walton Hall Park, Skinner reflected on the consistency her side have shown in recent weeks, whilst covering off team news and also giving her thoughts on the amount of time given to managers in the women's game.
You can listen to the full pre-match press conference by clicking play on the audio player above, or read on for the key talking points…
Consistency and building on positive results
At the end of the day, it’s very close at the bottom half of the table and we want to focus on doing what we have been doing for the last couple of games which is the way we approach it, the way we want to play, and ensure we become consistent with that.
I’ve said all season that when you start to get consistency, you will get the benefits of the results and performances.
It’s all about trusting the process and although that can be hard sometimes, everyone in here knows what they are doing and the direction of travel.
This weekend is another game and we’re looking to get as many points out of the games remaining for the rest of the season as we possibly can.
Team News
There's nothing to update on, everyone is in a good place. Abbey-Leigh Stringer won’t be available as it’s a longer-term situation for her.
Continued momentum during break
We had a behind closed doors friendly on Sunday. We wanted to maintain the momentum we have built up over the last few weeks and wanted to ensure that the entire squad was ready for the game this weekend.
It was important to continue the consistency of what we have been doing, so we approached the game the exact same way as we would for a league game as I don’t think just now was the right time for us to have a gap in between fixtures.
I just felt that’s where the team was at. We had some real positive performances and it was a worthwhile process. It has helped prepare us again going into Sunday's game.
Managerial musings
You can’t work miracles overnight. You’re dealing with 25 players and a whole group of staff. It takes time to embed everything with everybody in order to be successful. Time is absolutely crucial.
We all know we live in a world where results are important, but the biggest thing is that the coaches and clubs’ visions are aligned. It’s not an easy fix and if you want to fix things properly, you can’t do it overnight and I’m a big believer in that.
Some of the circumstances across the game have been unrealistic and it’s really difficult for people in those situations.
The investment is so varied that the expectations have to match the investment across the game. The reality piece around managers and players not having a job is not the same as the men’s game. There are a lot of factors that aren’t managed the same and people can lose sight of that.
Obviously, there has been a lot of positives steps associated to the game and it’s improved dramatically, but I also think we need to manage where we are in the game, and I think people not getting the opportunity to have the time they need is a real challenge.
