‘West Ham can hurt us’ – Leicester City must be switched on against Hammers says Foster | OneFootball

Leicester City’s interim head coach Jennifer Foster says that latest opponents West Ham United can cause trouble for her side, particularly in duels and when on the attack.

The Foxes travel to The Chigwell Construction Stadium to face The Hammers on Sunday afternoon.

Leicester City are one place and three points above West Ham United in the Barclays Women’s Super League table, however, interim boss Foster sees the East Londoners as tough opponents with their points tally maybe not fully reflecting their performances this season.

“They’re probably further down the table than they should be,” Foster said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “That’s important for us to remember. They’ve been a little bit unlucky with some of their results, a little bit like us.

“I think it’ll come down to duel winners. That’s something that they’re very good at, first and second balls. We have to make sure that we are really good with that. As long as we play our game, keep the ball and we are good with it, which we have been at times, we will cause problems.

“We need to make sure that we are switched on because West Ham can hurt us, especially with that front-line.”

Some of Leicester City’s better performances this season have come against the top sides in the Barclays Women’s Super League. Foster says that her side need to bring their A-game against lower-ranked opponents more often and that they need to be eager to win first balls.

She said “Being first to the ball [is important] because when you play against the top teams, you expect them to be on it and switched on, so you raise your game. We need to go into this exactly as we would against one of those top four teams where we have actually played really well.

“It’ll come down to those that are wanting to win the duels. I’m hoping to be able to play our nice football but knowing West Ham and their physicality, that will be difficult at times. It might be like the Liverpool FA Cup game; it wasn’t pretty but we found a way to win. That might have to be the case for the last two games, it’s really important for us to be able to find a way to win.”

Leicester City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at West Ham United kicks-off at 3pm on Sunday afternoon.