West Ham’s Kate Longhurst has said she wants her club to finish higher in the Women’s Super League next season and that they cannot have any more ‘embarrassing’ results.

After the Football Association used a points per game system to determine final placings in the WSL last season, the Hammers finished eighth. They suffered some heavy defeats, including an 8-0 thrashing from Chelsea in February.

Longhurst told the club website: "The big thing for me is consistency. I think that’s something we’ve lacked in the past. We’ve had good performances where we haven’t won and bad performances when we have, but we can’t seem to find that consistency.

“To be frank, there have been times when we’ve had a couple of embarrassing results, and that’s something that we never want to experience again. It’s down to the experienced players, me included, to take responsibility to ensure that doesn’t happen again this season and we do have that consistency and making sure the new players do have what it takes to play well and win games.

 “We have to be better than last season and finish higher than we did last season. I think pre-season has been spot on, in terms of the work ethic and what the coaches are demanding from us, and it’s down to us to carry that into the matches when the league starts.”

In last season’s final placings, Chelsea leapfrogged Manchester City to claim the title and Liverpool were relegated.

The WSL is aiming to start their next season on September 5.