West Ham start their Vitality Women’s FA Cup campaign this Sunday as they take on Chichester & Selsey Ladies FC at Dagenham and Redbridge Football Club.
Chichester & Selsey have beaten National League opposition in Leyton Orient and Kent Football United on their way to this stage in the competition.
Redemption
The FA Cup gives West Ham a good chance to put some shine on what has been a disappointing season. The Hammers find themselves just two points clear of relegation as we enter the closing weeks of the season.
You’d expect a straight froward win for the Hammers as many key players have started to find some form.
Consecutive good performances culminated in a 5-0 drubbing of Reading last time West Ham stepped onto the pitch, and with solid showings from international stars such as Kenza Dali and Katerina Svitkova putting in good performances for their country over the break.
Repeat of 2019?
Many of the players in this West Ham squad have been deep into the competition before, when Matt Beard guided them to the final in 2019.
Captain Gilly Flaherty reminisced about the success, “We were absolutely buzzing to be able to win the game and get to Wembley in our first season as a professional outfit, and I know they are memories that I will treasure”
But the skipper has her eyes on this Sunday’s fixture as she looks to progress ““This will be their cup final, and we’ve got to show them respect. They’ve beaten two teams to get here this afternoon, so we have to make sure that we’re not complacent, stay professional and get the job done.”
Tough Week For West Ham
Although expected to be one of West Ham’s more straight forward fixtures this season, it marks the start of a tough week that could all but decide the relegation battle.
Just two days later they’ll take on relegation rivals Aston Villa in a rare fixture set to take place at Villa Park. Then at the end of the week, they’ll return to Dagenham and Redbridge FC for a tough fixture against Everton.
At the end of the week West Ham could find themselves eight points clear of relegation and set for another year in England’s premier division.
Head coach Ollie Harder had this to say about their crucial seven days, “This is the start of a big week for us, so it’s important that we start it off in the right way and continue to show the performance levels that we did against Reading before the international break… It’s really important that we continue the run of good performances that we have shown in recent up, so that we can go into our crucial WSL match against Aston Villa in the best form possible.”
