West Ham United Ladies midfielder Emily van Egmond is feeling positive about the future of women’s football, despite her side going down to a 2-0 defeat away at Old Trafford against Manchester United.

The Hammers were part of history during the match, which was the first Barclays FA Women’s Super League game to be hosted at Old Trafford, but were unable to lift themselves off the bottom of the table, with their winless run now stretching back seven matches.

While the result was not as good as it could have been, the player told the West Ham website that the occasion shows there is growing interest in women’s football and that she is positive about its increasing popularity.

“It was brilliant to be here playing in such an iconic stadium - you just soak up all that excitement. It was a great occasion for both sides and really amazing to experience playing here,” she said.

“I think that the way Women’s football is moving forward in such a positive way, especially in this country, playing in stadiums like this regularly is something that we need to continue striving towards.

“A couple of games in each season at stadiums like Old Trafford means that we would be able to have matches with large crowds a couple of times a year, which can only be good for the sport moving forward.”

Reflecting on the game itself van Egmond felt that the Irons’ second half display was not as disciplined as their first, with a red card to Laura Vetterlein not helping matters.

However, she still felt her teammates gave as much as they could have against a side third in the league and pushing for higher.

“Our first half performance was probably up there with our best of the season. We stayed disciplined and managed to get in at half-time with the scoreline level, so that was positive for us.

“Unfortunately, we went 2-0 down very early on in the second half and Laura [Vetterlein] was sent off, so that made it difficult to get back into the game. But I have to give credit to my teammates today, we all gave 100 per cent and I don’t think we could have given anymore as a group out there.”