Hampton must ‘stay hungry’ says Aston Villa head coach Ward following England debut | OneFootball

Aston Villa head coach Carla Ward says that goalkeeper Hannah Hampton must ‘stay hungry’ if she is going to go on and achieve more success on the international stage.

The 21-year-old made her long-awaited senior debut for England in the latest international window, keeping a clean sheet as the Lionesses battled to a goalless Arnold Clark Cup draw with Spain in Norwich.

When commenting on Hampton’s England debut, club boss Ward said that the player must look to kick on from that moment and remain hungry for further success.

“It’s brilliant,” Ward said when speaking to FAWSL Full-Time about Hampton’s debut. “I constantly tell her to be patient, all season I have had conversations with her and I have told her to be patient. She’s young, she’s got to keep improving and she’s got to stay focused.

“I had a meeting with her off the back of it just to tell her that this is her level and now she has to make sure that every time she walks out on the pitch, she’s hungry and she’s focused. She’s got to get the consistency up now and she’s a young player that’s learning all of the time, we have to make sure that the little taste of it is something that she can savour and use to really kick her on and to try and get that again.

“It will only come again if she gets her head down and works hard, stays focused, stays disciplined and stays hungry, that’s the biggest thing for me, you’ve got to stay hungry to want to feel that again.”

Hampton was one of just three players named in the England squad who does not currently play for Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City. Ward went on to issue a reminder that there is life outside of what could be classed as the Barclays FA Women’s Super League’s four elite clubs.

She said “We have got to realise that there are more than four clubs in the division, that’s the reality of it. I think you’ve got some exceptional players, some exceptional teams up and down the division and some exceptional coaches.

“We are always talking about the top four but actually, if you look outside of the top four, you’ve got an awful lot of quality, you’ve got some excitement and some potential. It is an exciting time for the division and I say the division because there are 12 teams in it, teams who deserve to be focused on.”

Goalkeeper Hampton is likely to return to club action this evening when Aston Villa face Everton at The Banks’s Stadium (kick-off 7pm).