West Ham United midfielder Kate Longhurst says that her side can get something from Sunday’s match against Chelsea if they can implement their game plan.
The Hammers welcome the Barclays FA Women's Super League leaders to Dagenham & Redbridge Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It’s been a long wait for the next game due to the international break, and Longhurst believes that the squad have been able to use that time effectively.
“Over the international break we’ve been working hard and bonding together.” Longhurst said. “It’s something that we’ve always had and there’s no problems within the camp, we all want to do well for each other, and we need to translate that onto the pitch now.
“Some games there’s been little things missing that have made the difference from us winning or losing, and then some we haven’t been good enough.
“We’re definitely still together as a group and believe that we’re a good enough team to do well. It’s tough when you’re down at the bottom, but we’re going to give it our best on Sunday.”
The two sides met at the beginning of February, as the Irons were comfortably beaten in the Women's Continental League Cup by the Blues. Longhurst says that her side didn’t do themselves justice on the day.
“It’s going to be a really tough match on Sunday. The last time we played them we didn’t do ourselves justice in terms of how we know we can play.
“They’re a team with a vast amount of experience and international players littered throughout. We know exactly what to expect from them and they are where they are for a reason,” she added.
“Yes, there’s a big difference between the two sides at the moment, but if we implement the game plan, stay calm and composed and keep ourselves in the game, then anything is possible.”
The international break has given Olli Harder time to work with the team out on the training pitch, with Longhurst hoping that the hard work that has been put in over the last couple of weeks can translate into picking up points on the pitch.
“We know that we played poorly against Bristol City. We looked at the game as a must-win to try and drag ourselves away from the bottom of the table.
“The performance against Brighton was better, but we came away with nothing on the night.
“To be honest, I don’t care if we don’t play well and only have one shot. As long as that shot goes in and we don’t concede, I will take that all day long because at the moment we need points.
“We’ve got good players in this team so there’s no reason why we can’t get something from the game,” she said.
And Longhurst is hoping that a positive result can give the team the confidence that they need to start picking up points consistently and pull themselves away from the relegation place.
“We have to take it game by game.” Longhurst said. “There’s no point in us looking ahead or looking at where we could pick up points, every game we play in is an opportunity to get points on the board and start climbing up the table.
“Sometimes you need that win, result or upset to give you the confidence you need to win matches consistently, but we certainly haven’t lost belief in ourselves or in what Oli wants from us.
“The only thing we can do is stick together as a group and make sure we give everything out on the pitch.”
