Just four points separate ninth-placed Albion from bottom of the table Bristol City in the Women’s Super League, ahead of Sunday’s game with fifth-placed Everton at The People’s Pension Stadium.
But Hope Powell’s side go into the game in good spirits after knocking out Championship leaders Aston Villa to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup last Sunday.
“With our squad and the games we have coming up we feel we can start creeping up the table,” said Bowman.
“It’s so tight and we know we need points, but every team is capable of taking points off another in the league this season. We lost to Everton earlier in the season, but we feel we have improved since then and that our performances haven’t always reflected in the results.”
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Bowman is also aware that there are aspects of their game which do need to improve. After being in control in their last FAWSL fixture against West Ham where they led 1-0, they ended up suffering a frustrating 2-1 defeat.
“We lost control of that game in the second half,” she admitted. “Our game management wasn’t good, we couldn’t keep hold of the ball and allowed them to get back into the game when, if we’d taken our chances, we would have won. So that is something we have been working on for Sunday. There are going to be times when we will have to slow the game down and make sure Everton don’t get away from us.”
The Seagulls skipper also acknowledged that Albion need to be better in front of goal. Three goals last Sunday was a step forward and the midfielder, who scored a spectacular effort from outside the box in last season’s win over Everton, says that it’s up to everyone to contribute.
“It’s just about being clinical in the final third, and again this is something we have worked on in training in the last few weeks,” she said. “We need the end product to be better and we need goals to come from all over the team.”
Albion added midfielder Maxime Bennink and Ireland striker Rianna Jarrett to their squad on transfer-deadline day, and the midfielder has welcomed the additional competition for places.
“We have a big squad now with a lot of quality. Players here know that if they train and play well, they will get their chance on a Sunday, so the added competition for places can only be a good thing as it drives everyone on. The new players have fitted in nicely. We all get behind each other because we all want to team to do well and push forward.”