Speaking to the media in an official club press conference on Thursday afternoon, West Ham United manager Rehanne Skinner previewed her side’s upcoming outing in the Barclays Women’s Super League, as the Irons prepare to host Chelsea at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
First speaking on team news, Skinner confirmed that Kristie Mewis will once again be omitted from the match day squad. The Irons boss confirmed, ‘Kristie Mewis won’t be available this weekend. When she came to us, she’d recovered well from a tendon issue but has had a bit of a setback.’
Sunday’s league meeting with Chelsea will see the Irons return to Chigwell Construction Stadium. Speaking on the benefits of playing on home turf, Skinner expressed that ‘we’re really working hard at creating a home atmosphere that makes it a really hard place to come to at Dagenham.’
She continued: ‘I think being at home as well, we’ve sold over 3,000 tickets again for a home game. So the fanbase has grown, and from a club perspective, it’s such a big part of what we’ve wanted to achieve this year. When things like that are happening, you want to be able to go and lift the crowd, lift the fans, give them things back for the support that they’re giving us.’
Embed from Getty ImagesWest Ham United’s upcoming opponents in Chelsea have proved to be in unforgiving form in recent weeks, after consecutive displays of dominance against both Arsenal and Ajax, respectively. Sjoeke Nüsken has found herself in a particularly impressive spell of form, having struck home a brace in both of the aforementioned fixtures.
Skinner reflected on the threat of Nüsken, expressing that ‘she’s versatile, right- she’s played centre-half, centre-mid, centre-forward. I think I’ve been fortunate enough to watch her all throughout youth age. When I was with England, she played up against us quite a lot of times. The way that she’s developed and grown is definitely benefiting her being in that environment. She’s going from strength-to-strength, so it’s going to be a tough player to deal with and to handle.’
Despite the potential threat of the German international looming close on the horizon for her Irons side, Skinner expressed that her side ‘have got to make sure we stick to our guns and what we are trying to do within our game plan. We’ll hopefully make that as hard as possible [for Chelsea], and fight for everything.’
West Ham United will host Chelsea this Sunday at Chigwell Construction Stadium in another weekend of Barclays Women’s Super League action, with the match kicking off at 16:30 GMT.