‘We’ve got a point to prove’ – West Ham keen to perform against Chelsea says Skinner | OneFootball

West Ham United manager Rehanne Skinner says that her side go to Chelsea this evening with a point to prove.

The Hammers travel to Kingsmeadow to face The Blues in a Subway Women’s League Cup semi-final.

West Ham United were defeated 5-0 by Chelsea in a Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at The Chigwell Construction Stadium a little over a fortnight ago and were not at their best in that game.

When speaking to the media ahead of this evening’s Subway Women’s League Cup semi-final tie, West Ham United manager Skinner said that the game will be challenging but her side are motivated to make amends for their recent defeat to Chelsea.

“It’s a big ask,” Skinner said. “We’ve spoken before about the quality and depth in their side, it’s significant. That makes it a challenge but ultimately, every player, every team, every club sets out to win games and that’s what we are trying to do.

“We want to make it as difficult for them as possible. We’ve got a point to prove because we didn’t play our best against them in the last game. We came away from that disappointed because we felt that we were too passive across the game in general. We’ve had games since then and while there’s been a high game volume, we are in a better position in terms of the way that we want to play and people being ready.

“There are no excuses for that game, we were too passive. We gave them too much time and space and that’s not the way that we want to play. We want to rectify that this time around.”

West Ham United haven’t appeared in a major cup final since 2019 and Skinner says that having the opportunity to qualify for this season’s Subway Women’s League Cup final provides a big motivation for her players.

She said “There’s an opportunity to get into the final, so there’s a massive incentive and motivation for the players.

“It’s something that the club hasn’t done very often; we’ve not made it into a final in this situation before, so it’s a big thing that we want to strive towards.”

Skinner is just 18 months into her job at West Ham United and she says that victory at Kingsmeadow this evening would be a huge reward for the hard work and commitment that everyone has shown to the cause.

She said “We would be delighted. It’d be a massive achievement for the club and for all of the hard work that everybody has put in. It would also show the progress that the team has made over the last 18 months. There have been lots of positive strides forward and this will be an opportunity for us to show a bit more of what we are about.

“It’d be a massive thing for the fans, for the players and for the club. It’d just be a huge achievement for us.”

West Ham United’s Subway Women’s League Cup semi-final tie at Chelsea kicks-off at 7pm.