Life has been thrill-a-minute for Amy Merricks in charge of Albion.

But she will be happy to avoid some of that late excitement of her first two games as they return to Conti Cup action.

Albion beat West Ham 5-4 and drew 3-3 with Liverpool after Merricks stepped in as interim successor to Hope Powell.

They now face a testing cup trip to Championship leaders London City.

All felt gloom and doom in the cold and rain at Crawley last Sunday afternoon after Albion conceded a stoppage-time equaliser.

They had looked to be well in charge of things at 3-1 into the final quarter.

With reflection, it was possible to be a bit more positive about the full 90 minutes.

But with scope for leaning and improving Merricks said: “When you concede a late equaliser like that, it can really dampen that moment for sure.

“I think now, reviewing it and looking back, for two-thirds of the game we certainly controlled it.

“I thought the strategy worked, I thought the players applied themselves in relation to that strategy very well.

“We created opportunities. We came back from 1-0 down.

“I thought we could still have scored more, which would have taken the game away and out of sight at that point.

“So from my point of view, I’m still really proud of the way the players approached it.

“Obviously there are areas that we need to improve.

“One of those is being hard to beat.

“But that is in our hands to work on that now, moving forwards.”

They will help their cause no end if they can remain as tight at the back, and indeed as a collective, as they looked for more than an hour versus Liverpool.

The one goal they conceded in that time was more down to good wing play than poor defending Merricks said: “I think a large part of defending is mindset, staying in the moment, seeing the picture quick enough and adapting quickly to it – applying yourself.

“The team’s attitude has been excellent.

“Their efforts have been excellent.

“I don’t think anyone can doubt that for a second - I can’t for sure.

“It’s just those moments when we have to stay really switched on.

“We are improving at that on the training pitch so that will start to carry over into games, I’m sure.”

Albion went down 3-2 to Birmingham earlier in the campaign and Merricks believes the gap between top and second tiers is closing.

She said: “That league has progressed so much over the last few years and in terms of the investment.

“Teams are more professional They are training more often, which is naturally going to bridge that physical gap.

“That has probably been quite a big reason why the competition hasn’t always been there.

“Now, when we go and play those teams, we know it’s still going to be a fight, it’s still going to be a challenge.

“We want the cup competitions to be competitive so I think it’s great, personally, I really do.

“I feel that gap will only get closer and closer, for sure.

Merricks is likely to make some personnel changes tomorrow.

But she will be aware of the threat caused by the home side.

Danielle Carter has been a big part in Albion’s haul of eight goals from their last two games after returning to the initial XI.

Asked about the ex-Arsenal star’s contribution, in terms both of scoring and helping bring others into play, Merricks said: “Danielle has some qualities.

“She is a good technician. She can link play very well.

“She can bring others into play when she does that quickly and effectively.

“She has plenty of experience so certainly when she is on her game it can impact the rest of the team and bring them with her.”