Brighton & Hove Albion manager Hope Powell says that West Ham United are a decent team and they will be tough opponents for her side this weekend.
The Seagulls travel to The Chigwell Construction Stadium on Sunday for their latest Barclays FA Women’s Super League match. Powell’s side come up against a West Ham United side who have suffered just one home league defeat so far this season, that loss coming to reigning champions Chelsea.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Powell highlighted the strength of the West Ham United group whilst adding that she expects a real tough game against the East Londoners this weekend.
“It is going to be a very tough game,” Powell said. “West Ham have recently found good form, they’ve got all of their players fit, healthy and available, they are a decent outfit. The last game showed that, drawing against Manchester United, they’ve done well against Villa and they beat Everton.
“They are on a good run, a good vein of form and they’ve got some good players so it is going to be a real tough game for us. We have to present ourselves well on the day, stick to the game plan and hope that we get something out of it.”
Brighton & Hove Albion defeated West Ham United 2-0 at the Amex Stadium on the opening day of the season. Powell went on to say that The Hammers squad has settled since that game and manager Olli Harder now has a good compliment of players at his disposal.
She said “When we played them at the start of the season, he (Harder) was very clear to me that he didn’t have all of his best players. The games that they have won shows that they have got a good pool of talent so that’s a really good starting point. They seem to be gelling well, they’re finding form, they’re very aggressive and I think the way that they hounded Manchester United in terrible conditions is a compliment to them and their work ethic and work-rate. That must be down to him and what he is doing with that squad of players.”
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture at West Ham United kicks-off at 3pm on Sunday.
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