‘Every game is difficult’ – Brighton another challenge for West Ham says Skinner | OneFootball

West Ham United manager Rehanne Skinner has been impressed with this weekend’s opponents Brighton & Hove Albion but says that every team presents a real challenge.

The Hammers travel to the Amex Stadium to take on The Seagulls on Saturday afternoon. Brighton & Hove Albion go into the match in third position in the Barclays Women’s Super League table.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, West Ham United boss Skinner said that she has been impressed with Brighton & Hove Albion’s start to the season, however, the challenge is no less or greater than the last.

“They’ve got some top players in their squad,” Skinner said. “In the transfer window, I thought they did a great job with their recruitment. Those players have settled in nicely with their style of play and they’re moving the ball really well, creating problems for the opposition.

“The game will be difficult but that’s nothing new to us, every game is difficult in this league. It’s not necessarily just about Brighton, it’s a real tough test every week, no matter who we are playing against. All that we can do is control us and what we are trying to achieve. Hopefully, that causes problems for Brighton given the form that we are in.”

The Amex Stadium is not expected to be near capacity this weekend. Skinner says that West Ham United will relish the occasion regardless of the attendance and that the focus is on football.

She said “We don’t think about it too much. The biggest thing is that we want to play in the best stadiums that we can. The players love it, they really enjoy going into those settings.

“Our fans have been superb, they’ve been all over the country following us already. We’ve had some journeys and I’ve got no doubt that we’ll have a good following again this weekend. We bring a lot of noise, so I think that’ll help us.

“We are there to focus on football and make sure that we do the best job that we can to get points.”

West Ham United recorded their first league win of the season last weekend as they defeated Leicester City 1-0 in Dagenham. Skinner has seen major improvements in her side’s performances since the October international window and says that competition for places is high.

She said “We’ve just played really well since the international break. The in-possession part of our game has been much better and that has then elevated everybody.

“Having the squad available [helps]. Obviously, a lot of players needed bedding in during the first block before the international break. Now that they’ve settled into the team and understand what we are trying to do, they’re adding value to the wider group.

“It’s competitive which is always good. It makes people work really hard which has given us the opportunity to keep pushing the levels up and I think that showed at the weekend with the dominance on the ball that we had. I was really pleased.”

West Ham United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon.