LFC WomenMatt Beard on West Ham, injury latest, Katie Stengel and more

The Reds travel to face the Hammers on Sunday, with kick-off set for 5pm BST at Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Beard was quizzed on several topics ahead of the contest in the capital during a pre-match media briefing.

Read the key points from the manager’s press conference below.

On the renewed belief shown by his players…

We’ve always had the belief, I think. But because you’re playing against top teams week in and week out, to get that level of consistency takes a little bit of time. Last year there was probably three or four teams where it was tough, that’s no disrespect to the Championship, but that’s how it was. We’ve always had the belief, we knew it was going to be an up-and-down season. We didn’t anticipate the injury list that we’ve had over the course of the year as well and that’s probably had an impact into some of the results over the course of the season. We’re starting to find consistency now, we had that in November and December, but we’re starting to find that a little bit now. We are where we always thought we would be at this stage of the season and for us now we’ve got our sights on West Ham and Everton, that’s our next target and that’s where we want to go.

On the injury latest in his squad…

No-one will be available out of the injured list. We’ve still got Mel [Lawley], Tats [Natasha Dowie], Leanne [Kiernan] and Niamh [Fahey] still all out. Mel just had a reaction on the hip, she’s progressing well, she’s actually out on the pitch now… hopefully we’re coming to the end of that and it’s about building her back up. We’ve arranged a few friendlies in the coming weeks where we’re not playing just so we can get everyone back fit for the run-in.

On Shanice van de Sanden’s recent return…

She’s game-changing. Pace at any level of football changes games… she’s a fantastic player, she’s an infectious person, she wears her heart on her sleeve and she’s been desperate to get back in to be with the team. It’s not about her starting games, now we have to make sure we look after her and we make sure she’s available to make the impact she had [against Everton]. Hopefully Sunday and post-international break we can continue to build her minutes and fitness up.

On whether a win this weekend would see his team safe in the WSL…

Yeah, definitely. I think the tally we have now is enough. I think 12 or 14 points is what we probably looked at with the way the season has panned out. I think 12 would’ve been at the start of the year, and then when you assess at the mid-break, you would say 14 would be enough to stay in the division. I always said our ambition is to finish as high up the league table as possible. It’s taken us maybe a little bit longer to get there… we’re confident as a group. We feel we’re in a good position. We want to focus on trying to collect points. We’ve got a great run of games against teams in and around us and below us in the coming months… it’s just about keeping the group honest and keeping our feet on the ground. We won’t rest until it is mathematically safe. We’ll continue to keep working to make sure it’s 100 per cent confirmed, but we feel we’re in a good place. It’s just really about us concentrating on ourselves to continue to pick up points.

On Katie Stengel’s importance this season…

I say it every week about Katie, she can do everything for us, she can run in behind, hold it up and she’s got great feet. I think her and Yana [Daniels] are starting to develop a good relationship, to be honest with you. It’s interesting when you look at the clips back and talk to both of them, they’re starting to get an idea of runs and triggers. Katie has been brilliant all season, she’s been brilliant since she’s come into the club. She’s been a fantastic signing for us. We know teams don’t like playing against her because she’s strong and she’s unpredictable with what she can do. We’ve been absolutely delighted with her form, and we were delighted she got back on the scoresheet on Friday.