League Cup success has given West Ham United confidence ahead of Everton clash says Skinner | OneFootball

West Ham United manager Rehanne Skinner says that her side are in confident mood off the back of their Subway Women’s League Cup quarter-final victory over Tottenham Hotspur in midweek.

The Hammers won 2-1 at Spurs as they ended a poor run against their local rivals and booked their place in the semi-finals.

Reflecting on the victory in a West Ham United press conference, Skinner said that the result has set her side up well going into a hectic run of fixtures.

“I was delighted with the performance on Wednesday night,” Skinner said. “We’ve got a lot of games coming up and it gave opportunities for players. We weren’t at our best against Chelsea and we want players to compete for places in the squad.

“It was competitive, it was a really good game for us. For large parts, we did really well and that puts us in a good position for the upcoming games.”

Skinner went on to say that the victory over Spurs has brought her side added confidence and that the players are fighting for places in training.

She said “We should’ve taken points from the league game for sure and we’ve played well against them every time to be honest. It’s definitely built confidence into the team.

“The biggest thing is when we’ve done the things that we’ve set out to do in the game well, that’s what builds the confidence. The result is the outcome of all of the work that you’ve put in. It’s all of the little parts, all of the details that we work on that matter. When you start to see the benefits of those, that breathes confidence throughout a game.

“Moving into a semi-final is a big boost for the team because it’s a knockout competition and there’s an opportunity for a cup run, we’ve got an FA Cup tie coming up as well. There’s a lot to play for and we’ve had conversations with the players about these games being the opportunity to get more minutes. The more you fight for things, the more you make it difficult for people. Training standards have been excellent and we then put ourselves in a position to compete like that all of the time.

“I was delighted with the result and the way that we went about it.”

West Ham United take on Everton in their next fixture at The Chigwell Construction Stadium this afternoon. The Blue Girls are a team that have evolved in this month’s transfer window. Skinner says that she is aware of their threats but West Ham United are focused on themselves.

She said “With the personnel that they’ve brought in, there are opportunities for positional changes. The depth in positions is a bit different to what they had before Christmas. We’ve just got to take it as it comes. You can only prepare so much when there’s only been one game in a slightly different set up.

“We know what they’re capable of and we know about their new players. From our side, we have to focus on ourselves and the things that we have done well because that’s the only thing that we can control to the best of our ability. We take the things that we have and haven’t done well in the last two games and we have to deliver better again with the intent to get three points.”

West Ham United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Everton kicks-off at 3pm. Tickets will be available to purchase at The Chigwell Construction Stadium this afternoon.