West Ham United manager Olli Harder says that defender Lucy Parker has the potential to have an exciting future in the game.
The 23-year-old joined The Hammers last summer following a spell playing college football in the United States. The player has made 22 appearances for the East Londoners in all competitions so far this season, scoring three goals.
Parker’s latest outing saw her fielded at right-back against England forward Lauren Hemp in West Ham United’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup on Saturday. While The Hammers exited the competition after being comfortably beaten by The Citizens, Parker impressed in her position for large parts of the game.
When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time about Parker’s first season at The Chigwell Construction Stadium, West Ham United boss Harder hailed the player’s versatility whilst adding that her future could be exciting.
“She’s a versatile player, first a centre-half and now a wing-back” Harder said. “She has also slotted in midfield and has played a number six for us before, she has lots of potential.
“The future is unwritten so she will have to see how she develops but she has bags of potential and most importantly, she is a fantastic young women, very coachable and eager to learn. Those are the things that you always look for as a coach.”
Commenting specifically on the player’s performance at the weekend, Harder felt that Parker emerged with lots of credit.
He said “We gave her the opportunity two weeks ago (to play against Lauren Hemp) as part of our learning process, we gave her the start again and there were lots of positives for her there. She probably had one of the toughest jobs on the pitch and she handled herself relatively well. There are always ways that we can play out better but overall, she can be proud of her performance.”
Parker and West Ham United return to action on Sunday when they travel to Reading in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.