Hope Powell says striker Danielle Carter will be judged on her contribution to the team rather than how many goals she scores.
The former Arsenal and England forward got her second of the season in last week’s 3-1 defeat to Chelsea and will be hoping to add to her tally on Sunday when Albion take on unbeaten Tottenham Hotspur at the People’s Pension Stadium.
Carter says one of her aims is to finish her first season with the club as top goal scorer, but Powell says she has much more to offer as well as her striker’s instinct.
“Danielle is a natural goal scorer and has been throughout her career, it’s one of the reasons why we brought her to the club,” said Powell.
“We saw that against Chelsea. She was surrounded by four blue shirts but still had the composure to put the ball in the corner, where the keeper couldn’t get to it. And it was a great assist by Aileen Whelan as well.
“I know she wants to be our top scorer but we judge her on her all-round contribution to the team and in that respect she has been excellent so far.”
Powell will have more options up front against Spurs with Geummin Lee available after missing the last two matches because of Covid protocols.
Spurs have won all four League games and only trail leaders Arsenal on goal difference and Powell is full of admiration for the job being done by her opposite number Rehanne Skinner.
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“They made some signings in the summer and it seems to have clicked for them and you can see they are playing with a lot of confidence. It’s going to be tough but every game is,” she added.
“But we will take a lot from our second-half performance against Chelsea. Although we lost [3-1] I thought the second 45 was our best of the season so far. It showed what the squad is capable of but we need to find that sort of consistency in every single game.
“That is the challenge because we know that if we lose focus as individuals or as a team we will be punished.”