Hills on Sunday's game against Lewes Women at the Oakwood in Crayford

Karen Hills' is side are back in FA Women's Championship action on Sunday when they host Lewes at The Oakwood in Crayford.

The Addicks will be hoping to extend their unbeaten streak to six after last week's 0-0 draw with Sheffield United.

Hills said: “It was good to make sure we weren’t going to lose the game, it was a hard fought game and I thought both sides really battled well, cancelled each other out in a lot of different areas and fortunately for us we had Eartha in goal who pulled of that amazing save, but I was pleased to get the point and we go into the next game with a positive mentality."

The team produced another top quality defensive performance recording yet another clean sheet, with goalkeeper Eartha Cumings producing an excellent save to keep Charlton in the game.

“We defend from the front," Hills said, "it has got to get through ten other players before it actually reaches the goalkeeper, we work really hard in training in our out of possession work and what we need to do and how hard we have to work for each other and we show that in abundance, the first building block is about keeping clean sheets and thankfully for us we have had four on the bounce so that it something we are priding ourselves going forward."

Hills’ Charlton side’s next fixture is against Lewes, just one point that separates the sides in the league table this season. Hills’ stated that it will be a tough fixture and her squad must be at their best in order to get something out of the game.

“It’s always going to be a tough game against Lewes, a very good side with some fantastic players. The new manager has come in and settled in really well and got them playing some nice football, so we know it is going to be tough and we are taking nothing for granted. 

“We’ve got to be at our best and deal with the things right, if we can keep the gates shut and make sure they are not scoring and we just need to do the right thing up the other end and put the ball in the net, that's a little bit of pressure on our forwards but at the same time that is what they’re there to do. This week in training they have been excellent and really focused on what we ask them to do, really looking forward to it and I have got a lot of confidence in my forwards to go and take the game to them.”

Sunday’s opponents Lewes are yet to play a game in 2022 after their fixture against Durham Women was postponed, when questioned, Hills explained: "Obviously for us we are 90 minutes fresher and have that exposure already, but Lewes are a good side and they have obviously trained hard and they are probably excited and ready to get back to playing so I do not think that will have any impact on the game whatsoever, we just need to focus on what we are good at and make sure that we take our game to them."

The Addicks previous fixture against Lewes saw their opponents come out on top, recording a 2-0 victory at The Dripping Pan Stadium. Hills’ was asked what her side must do in order to take the spoils this time round.

She stated: “Hopefully the score will be different, last time we played them we were disappointed with our performance, we didn't start the game well at all, maybe a little bit of naivety from us, going there is always a big challenge and we cannot underestimate Lewes, maybe complacency may be set in and I think we found it tough going two goals down at half time and it was always going to be a mountain to climb, we know it is going to be tough and we hope to put it right this time."

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Article by Alex Forrest

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