NewsColumn: Matt Beard previews this week's clashes against Man Utd and Tottenham

It was disappointing not to take all three points at West Ham because I felt we should have done and we conceded a goal I wasn't happy with.

There is still plenty of work for us to do. I've said it all along but we are still playing catch-up because of the pre-season we had with injuries.

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We had 10 players that were modified leading into our first game. So we are still playing catch-up in certain areas, players are still finding their feet and 100 per cent we are going to have to rotate on Wednesday night when we play Manchester United in the Women's League Cup (kick-off 7pm BST at Leigh Sports Village).

We should have beaten West Ham but we didn't. We've not lost but we know there is still plenty for us to do and lots to improve on. Knowing this group as I know them, we will come through that the other side.

I was delighted for Smithy [Olivia Smith] to net her first goal for the club and I see her do that every day in training. When she gets in a position to shoot like that, nine times out of 10 it ends up in the back of the net.

I said to the girls in the meeting on Monday if we get an opportunity to shoot then shoot, because Smithy had another one in the second half when she turned the defender inside the box but chose to pass instead and it was cut out when she could have struck.

Like I said, we are still finding our feet a bit and the positives are we've played two and not lost. But it's important we start turning these points into three.

The goal we conceded was frustrating because we've covered those types of crosses earlier on in the week in training, making sure we defend in the box. Lawsy [Rachael Laws] has come for it but we still should have dealt with it.

I was a little disappointed with our aerial duels, if I'm honest, especially defensively. Our duels throughout the game were not at the standard that we set ourselves, especially with the height we've got in the back line. We should be winning those types of headers, so to concede like that was super-frustrating.

People talk about scheduling and it does need looking at because by the time we would have played Tottenham Hotspur away on Sunday, we would have spent 26 hours on a coach in the space of a week.

There is a lot we deal with this week and we need to rotate on Wednesday night. It's a great opportunity to give other players a chance to stake a claim.

I don't understand why the League Cup isn't scheduled the same week as the Champions League so everyone has the same schedules. It's frustrating.

Manchester United have an advantage over us now because their game was called off at the weekend.

We then face Tottenham on Sunday in the Barclays Women's Super League at Brisbane Road (kick-off 2.15pm BST).

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I watched Tottenham get a point with a late goal against Aston Villa on the coach back from West Ham. They are a good team and they have strengthened during the summer, so the team got better. Robert [Vilahamn] had a good first season in charge. We know this is going to be a tough game.

As always, we will be prepared for the game and see where it takes us.

With Teagan Micah and Faye Kirby missing, we only have Lawsy as our senior goalkeeper, with young stopper Eva Spencer on the bench.

Lawsy is in a good way, she can play three games this week, she is fine, so we've got nothing to worry about.

Thank you for your continued support.

YNWA,

Matt

Matt Beard was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter