'More pressure' on West Ham to improve

West Ham boss Rehanne Skinner says there is "more pressure" on her side heading into the new Women's Super League season.

The Hammers won just three games last season and finished 11th.

"We have to go into this season with no excuses and we’ve got to want to fight for everything, we need to be more consistent with what we deliver," Skinner said.

"There is a bit more pressure around us doing well because we want to improve on last year.

"But we also want to accept, off the back of last year, everybody will be writing us off as the underdogs and that’s going on already."

West Ham have lost a core group of players in the summer transfer window, but Skinner insists her team have a "fantastic togetherness and real desire to be better than we were last year".

"Everybody that has come into the team has been in teams where they've had to fight for something and work really hard. The attitudes of the players have gone up a notch," Skinner added.

"They are all on the same page as to what needs to happen this year and that brings a new energy."