Brighton & Hove Albion women’s manager James Marrs wants his side to be able to test themselves against a Women’s Super League (WSL) club, following a resounding 6-2 victory over West Ham United in the FA Cup second round today.
The Albion manager hopes to face one of the country's top teams later on in the competition and is also looking forward to facing the Hammers again in a league encounter in two weeks' time.He told seagulls.co.uk, “We’re looking to go as far as we possibly can in the FA Cup and we would love to get to the stages where you can draw a big team.
“Our long-term aim is to be among the WSL clubs and we’re hoping that we have a chance to prove ourselves against one of those sides this season.
“There are lots of lessons we can take from today's game. It’s good that we’ve now seen the way West Ham play, so we’ll be set up slightly different next time and we know what we need to work on and it's probably the same for them well.
“I would imagine the next fixture is going to be just as tasty as what the first 45 minutes was today. The first half was very competitive and we’re hoping that we can continue our form in two weeks’ time and that it will be the same scoreline again, minus the two goals they scored.”
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Despite the emphatic win, the Seagulls went 2-0 down after 31 minutes in a sluggish start to the match and Marrs feels that a lack of recent game time could be the reason.“I was really pleased with the second-half performance, not so much the first-half performance but we always knew we would be a bit slow out of the traps having not played for a few weeks.
“The players were not being switched on or quick enough. They didn’t do what they were supposed to be doing in the first 20-25 minutes and to be honest, we were really fortunate to go in level at 2-2.
“It’s hard to use a lack of competitive action as an excuse, but there is no substitute for playing games.”
Once Albion got into their stride, the Seagulls manager was pleased the quality shown for his side’s six goals and feels the win could have been even greater.
“We needed something; it was getting to a point where the performance was a little bit flat for a long period of time, especially after they scored their two goals.
“We needed something and Jay [Blackie] managed to produce that with a decent run from deep. It was a good bit of play from us and we finally got the ball into wide areas to hurt them, got a good cross in and a good finish.
“To be honest, we could’ve scored a few more, but the pleasing thing for me is that the goals are being spread around the team.
“The players are getting into the right areas at the right times and that’s the most important thing for me. Hopefully we can convert a few more chances into some goals in the weeks to come.”
[h=3]ALBION V brentford
[/h]saturday 17th january, KICK-OFF 3PM
[h=3]Albion v ipswich
[/h]WEDNESDAY 21ST JANUARY, kick-off 7:45pm
[h=3]Albion v arsenal
[/h]SunDAY 25TH januARY, kick-off 4pm
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