It’s impossible to know where to begin this preview of Sunday's 2pm away game v West Ham after last weekend’s result.
Points seemed to be in the bag. The quick-fire double from Elisha N’Dow and Leah Davidson had The Addicks on the precipice of a victory before Crystal Palace’s Aimee Everett levelled things in the 81st minute. But a first point would still have been welcome. Beth England had other ideas, finding herself free in the box to score in injury time and consign Karen Hills side to another defeat.
That defeat will have been a crushing blow to the squad but all hope is not lost. Before the catastrophic final ten minutes this was a good performance. Two goals in as many minutes was the first time Charlton had really capitalised on any momentum this season. Hills put out a comparatively youthful side who ran hard and were able to not only win the ball back well but use it effectively too. Charlton had the higher xG from open play and triple the amount of shots on target that their opponent managed. In defence they won more aerial duels and made more blocks. It was moments that let the result slip away rather than the overall performance.
West Ham come into the game after a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Man City. The Hammers saw a decent chunk of the ball but struggled to really create any big chances. In fact, they are the third lowest scorers in the league. They are defensively shaky too, only keeping one clean sheet so far.
Viviane Asseyi is the player to look out for. The Hammers top scorer can play up front but primarily operates on the left wing and has scored direct from a free kick as well as two penalties. In midfield, former Manchester United captain and Lioness Katie Zelem will be attempting to control the game. The battle between Zelem and combative midfielder Katie Flannery could be crucial.
The two sides did meet in the Players Cup in October but with both teams putting out weakened XI’s it is hard to read too much into that result. Karen Hills spoke last weekend about having a team of fighters. She will need that fight to show up on Sunday to put the memories of the Palace game to bed.
Wednesday evening's narrow 1-0 win over Ipswich in the Players Cup will have helped a bit with confidence building - second half substitutes Jodie Hutton and Lorena Azzaro combining for the goal and Anna Koivunen keeping a clean sheet. Hills's post-game comments revealed the work that had gone on since the Palace debacle:
"We didn't have to pick them up too much. We just had some honest conversations week in, week out. We needed to do better in certain moments. We should never be able to go up in a game of 2-1 and then concede two poor goals. We spoke about it honestly and we've tried to eliminate that. I thought today that bounce back and that reaction to keep that clean sheet, to deal with set pieces the way that I thought we did. I thought we dealt with them a lot better. So, every single game, it's moving in a positive direction and today's another one of those positive moves."