‘It shows how far we have come’ – Beard.

City Women took a deserved lead inside the opening ten minutes as Molly Pike’s corner was turned into the Hammers net via Emily Van Egmond, before Katerina Svitkova levelled shortly after half-time.

On the balance of play, the Robins looked the more threatening side and twice went close as both Ebony Salmon and Jemma Purfield hit the woodwork either side of the break.

“I think we deserved to win the game. Tactically we were excellent, the players knew when to step on and then when to get back into the shape,” said Beard.

“We’ve created numerous chances and hit the woodwork two or three times and I felt we were unlucky to only get a point.

“I think that shows how far we have come as a group, because the girls are desperately disappointed that we have only come away with one point and I’m really pleased with the performance we put in today. It was a tough game in tough conditions.”

Beard praised his group for showing consistency in their performance levels over the last week, which has seen the Robins go three games unbeaten in the space of seven days.

“The pleasing thing is we’re creating a lot of chances in every game. On reflection, we could have been a little bit more composed in certain situations but at the end of the day it’s a tough place to come,” added Beard.

“We need to make a habit of being a team that is consistent, and I thought we were consistent today both with and without the ball, but also consistent in picking up points.

“At the moment everything is out of our hands but all we can do is keep putting in performances like today and hopefully that will be enough for us.

“As long as we continue to work really hard, like we have done today, then we give ourselves a really good chance of staying in the division.”

The schedule does not let up for Matt Beard’s side as the Robins face another midweek trip to the capital to take on Tottenham Hotspur at The Hive on Wednesday evening (February 10th, 7:30pm).