At A Glance
Aston Villa Women will continue their Vitality Women's FA Cup journey on Sunday when they travel to West Ham United.
Carla Ward's side meet the Hammers in the Fifth Round, with a place in the last eight up for grabs.
While the most recent international break has momentarily stunted Villa's momentum, thoughts of our last outing will hopefully spur the team onto another cup victory.
We went into the break having romped to a 6-2 win at Brighton & Hove Albion, a result which caught the attention of many.
Headlined by a Jordan Nobbs hat-trick, Villa will be wanting their free-scoring form to continue in London.
This weekend's opponents at Chigwell Construction Stadium are West Ham United.
Paul Konchesky is overseeing his first season in charge of the Hammers, having been part of Olli Harder's coaching team prior to the 2022.23 campaign.
West Ham's form has been solid on the whole, despite their lopsided Conti Cup defeat to Chelsea last time out.
Sunday's foes are just four points and two places below us in the Barclays Women's Super League table, meaning a tight affair could be on the cards.
In five league encounters between the two sides since our promotion in 2020, three have ended in draws.
The Last Meeting
Villa Women’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end with a 2-1 defeat to West Ham the last time these two sides met.
Early goals from Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Honoka Hayashi put West Ham into the ascendency, before Kenza Dali restored hope for Villa late on.
However, the Hammers held on to hand Villa a first defeat in four.
Team News
Carla Ward confirmed during Friday morning's press conference that Freya Gregory and Evie Rabjohn will be in the squad for Sunday's cup tie.
Gregory hasn't featured since December with an ankle injury, while Rabjohn has also been sidelined with an ankle problem.
Remi Allen and Simone Magill have both continued pitch-based work but are still a significant period away from returning.
Meaghan Sargeant, Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah and Natasha Harding remain out with long-term injuries, although the latter has also returned to light training.
