Albion started the game promisingly, but were unable to recover from Martha Thomas’s opener, as West Ham struck twice more on a frustrating afternoon.
She said, “I thought we started quite well, but we capitulated a bit after they scored and found it difficult to get our groove back.
“Credit to West Ham as they played on the front foot and it was a bit tetchy at times from both teams. I was pleased with the first 25 minutes, but we struggled a bit from that point, and it wasn’t until we scored late on that we managed to liven up a bit.
“We had a long chat in the dressing room after the game to understand how we’ll put this right going forward.”
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The Albion manager also spoke about goalkeeper Megan Walsh’s performance after the shot-stopper made a couple of fine saves during the match, but admitted her players can do more to stop those shots taking place.
“She is a huge addition for us and pulled off a couple of good saves. She can only get better in my opinion, but it’s got to go through a lot of players before it gets to her.
“Those players in front of her have got to do better.”
Powell then went on to speak in more detail about the post-match discussion and stressed that the emphasis was on bouncing back very quickly.
“We need to understand why we played within ourselves and became withdrawn after their opening goal.
“It was a very helpful discussion, as it was about doing the basics well and understanding that the league is very unforgiving.
“We stressed that we can’t cut any corners, and we’ll have to dust ourselves down and go again.”