Marc Skinner warns against complacency as Man Utd face in-form West Ham

Marc Skinner has warned Manchester United to resist complacency when they travel to West Ham in the Women’s Super League.

United booked their third straight FA Cup final against Chelsea after beating Manchester City on Sunday and will face the WSL-leading Blues in league action on April 30 before taking on top-four opponents City and Arsenal to close out their season.

But first come the Hammers, who held five-time reigning WSL champions Chelsea to a 2-2 draw last time out and picked up five points from their four league meetings in March.

“West Ham is really important and I’m not interested in the FA Cup final right now, I’m really not,” Skinner said.

“This is a team that is in form. It just shows (West Ham head coach) Rehanne (Skinner)’s super strength is consistency. Even when she’s under fire, she’s consistent with the messages and I think her team are thriving on that.

“You can see some of their players are really dangerous, so we’ve got to be fully on it. I’ve made it very clear to the team and I’ve actually really liked their response, they seem very ready for that.

“I hate the saying but it does happen, ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ performances – after you go from a really high high like getting through to the FA Cup final – but every game is so important now.”

United sit third in the WSL with 42 points, three fewer than second-placed Arsenal but with a game in hand.

Skinner has everyone apart from Jess Ziu at her disposal after the international break, adding: “Keeping everybody on their toes is important. I think that’s led to us improving our capabilities of delivering that winning mentality and never-say-die attitude. It’s been a work in progress, but obviously we’re in a great space.

“I actually think they’ve [Manchester United] been talked about very little in this whole season, given everything they’ve done throughout the course of the year. They are a force to be reckoned with and I think the points differential on the board shows that. We’re expecting a really hard game.”

Fifth-placed Brighton host Liverpool, one place below them and with one point fewer, in Saturday’s other WSL encounter.

Hosts Albion will be returning to main venue the Amex Stadium, where they hosted an open training session earlier this week.

Manager Dario Vidosic said: “It’s nice, but I don’t really care where the game is played. Not to disregard anything but wherever we are, we don’t make excuses.

“We know that tomorrow there are no excuses. We’re in beautiful surroundings in our stadium and we want to keep (our record there) going and have a really good performance.”

Liverpool will be looking to bounce back from their FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea and leap above their opponents in the league standings.

Interim head coach Amber Whiteley said: “They sit just above us in the table and we’re looking to turn that around on Saturday.

“A tough test for sure. Their recent form has not been what they’ve wanted but they’re a good side, well drilled, and we’ll have to be at our best.”