Amber Tysiak is eager to build on the personal positive of her first West Ham United start by helping the side claim three points away to Leicester City.
The defender finally earned her full debut for Paul Konchesky’s Hammers in the defeat to Chelsea in the Barclays Women’s Super League on Wednesday, having joined the Club in January.
Injury has kept Tysiak out of the side for much of her time as a West Ham player so far but the No5 is delighted to finally walk out in the starting XI for the team.
“I was very happy to make my first start on Wednesday,” Tysiak told whufc.com. “It has been a long wait, and a tough one. It has been a tough few months for me personally.
“My last start for any team was with my last club, before I joined West Ham, so I was very excited to start against Chelsea. To get that first start meant a lot to me and made me so happy.
“Chelsea are one of the best teams in this league so, to make my first start against them, it was exciting and also a real challenge. It was a big opportunity for me, and it meant a lot to me to get that from the manager.”
Having moved to east London from OH Leuven at the start of the year, Tysiak admitted it was tricky to immediately being affected by injury.
However, the support and encouragement of her new teammates and the coaches at West Ham helped her to adapt to her new surroundings and recover from her initial set-back.
“Joining a new team is exciting but then it’s very hard to go straight into having an injury. I have to say though that I was surrounded by amazing teammates and great people, who made me feel like I wasn’t alone and looked after me.
“It’s never a good experience, being injured, but the people around me were so amazing.”
The Irons are now preparing for a final away game of the 2022/23 campaign as they get set to face Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
With Willie Kirk’s Foxes desperate for points in their bid to avoid relegation, Tysiak knows she and her teammates are set for another tough encounter.
West Ham are desperate to return to winning ways themselves though and the centre-back is hopeful of helping the team to three points.
“Leicester will be a really tough match,” she added. “They still need points and they want to fight for every point they can get.
“If you look at our squad though, we have really good players. And, while other results haven’t gone our way, we know we have the quality to get some big performances and get wins. We need to have confidence in ourselves and go up there with the intention of taking three points.
“As for me, I’m looking forward to it. Now I’ve started one game, I’m hoping I can end the season with more minutes. I’m hoping I can help the team towards the end of the season.”
