West Ham United Women praised for sealing quarter-final spot

A 0-0 draw at Brighton saw their top group C and set up a last-eight meeting with Liverpool at Prenton Park next Wednesday (January 25).

And Konchesky was pleased to see them achieve their target in the competition.

“We’ve done what we set out to do when the group was drawn,” he told whufc.com.

“We always knew it was going to be tough because cup games always are, regardless of what level of opposition you’re up against. 

“Our reward for topping the group and getting the job done is a tough trip up to Liverpool. It’s one we’ll look forward to because we want to go as far as we possibly can in the competition.”

Lisa Evans, Viviane Asseyi and Dagny Brynjarsdottir all went close to breaking the deadlock at Broadfield Stadium, with Mackenzie Arnold largely untroubled at the other end.

But the scoreline remained blank and the hosts won a penalty shoot-out as Megan Walsh saved from Mel Filis, Grace Fisk and Halle Houssein.

“We wanted to get the three points and we had the chances,” added Konchesky.

“It’s massive for the backline and Macca to get another clean sheet, particularly as we head into a busy period of games, it’s nice for the players to have that confidence.”

West Ham head to Everton for their next Women’s Super League fixture on Sunday (1pm), before returning to Merseyside a few days later for their cup clash.

And they are back on the road to Wolverhampton for a Vitality Women’s FA Cup tie the following weekend (January 29, 2pm), but Konchesky welcomes the busy spell.

“We relish the opportunity to do well in all competitions we enter and that means we’re going to be challenged in terms of the number of matches we’re going to play in a short space of time,” he said.

“We’re heading into a run of games that will see us play across all three and we need to make sure that we’re ready to to do that.

“If you can’t get yourself up for a quarter-final then you shouldn’t be in football. 

“It’s a realistic opportunity for us to take a step closer to the final and even potentially win a trophy this season, so we’re looking forward to it.”