West Ham United preparing for Brighton’s new challenges says Skinner | OneFootball

West Ham United manager Rehanne Skinner says that her side are preparing to face different challenges from Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend.

The Hammers host The Seagulls at The Chigwell Construction Stadium on Sunday afternoon in their latest Barclays Women’s Super League fixture.

The two sides have already met twice this season in league and cup and each club has managed to record a win. In both of those matches, Brighton & Hove Albion were managed by former boss Melissa Phillips. When speaking about Mikey Harris’ new-look Brighton & Hove Albion in the pre-match press conference, West Ham United boss Skinner said that her side are preparing for different challenges this weekend.

“Brighton are trying to play the style that goes through the entire club structure,” Skinner said. “He’s only had a few games really in the whole scheme of things with the players, there’s not been a pre-season or anything like that. We all know from a management perspective how difficult it is to turn it around because you are in the thick of it with the results immediately.

“The way that the team play has changed. It’s different to when we’ve previously played them this season. We are looking forward to the game, it’ll pose us a few different challenges that we need to prepare for properly. We are keen to get back out there at home this weekend.”

In Harris’ last six matches in charge of Brighton & Hove Albion, his side have scored 15 goals. Eight of those goals have been scored after the 80th minute. Skinner is aware of the Sussex club’s threats, although she believes that her own side can match Brighton & Hove Albion in terms of late attacking energy.

She said “We’ve been the same actually with scoring late goals, we’ve scored quite a few late on. They’re working hard until the end of games and they’re making sure that they’re resilient and hard to beat.

“Every team in this league poses you different problems, different challenges. The players that they have are more than capable of creating problems for anyone in the league and we’ve done the same.

“It’s about what actually happens when the two XIs turn up; which team implements their game plan the most effectively. We just need to make sure that we stay on alert to all of the potential threats and changes that might be made within that personnel which we’ve been preparing for.”

West Ham United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 3pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.