Melissa Phillips does not want to put her team’s mixed start to the season down to a hectic summer.

But the hope and expectation will be they can only improve after they missed a chance to make a big early impression at the Amex.

Albion went down 3-1 to Tottenham in their second WSL home game of the campaign before a club record crowd of almost 7,000.

They had previously lost at home to West Ham at Crawley but have won away to Everton in the league and Birmingham City in the Conti Cup.

Five members of the starting XI plus two of the substitutes who got on against Spurs were not with the club last season.

And that is without World Cup defenders Li Mengwen (China) and Jorelyn Carabali (Colombia) having yet appeared in the league.

It felt like all might gel quickly when some encouraging performances in pre-season were followed by two goals in the opening 15 minutes of the league season.

But Albion failed to impress at the Amex, despite the lift of an early goal from Elisabeth Terland.

If there was one period when they hinted at better things, it was early in the second half when they switched to a back three having made a trio of personnel changes at the break.

Fleetingly, Vicky Losada had a platform from which to create cleverly in midfield and Katie Robinson was getting the ball in decent areas in front of the well-populated East Lower.

Charlie Rule, who switched to the left, looked to have the attacking instinct and athleticism for the wing-back role, although she naturally looked to check back on to her favoured right foot.

Phillips had identified that tactical rethink during the first half – even before Tottenham equalised in the final seconds of stoppage time.

She already knew a fitness concern would curtail Terland’s participation, although her half-time replacement Madison Haley offered some very promising signs.

Asked if it felt like that half-time switch was working, Phillips said: “I think it was, for sure.

“Spurs probably adapted to in-game changes a bit better than we did and that is something we will have to look at, both in our preparation and our execution.

“In the second half we enjoyed the ball a bit more, we had more attacking creation, but didn’t create enough quality opportunities to convert.

“Ultimately, Spurs were clinical with the ones they created.”

As well as those attacking options, Albion also felt the change of shape would help them clog up central spaces which Spurs were looking to exploit.

Hopes the plan would pay off sailed out of the window in the moments when Grace Clinton floated home Spurs’ second goal from 25 yards.

Albion have a tough series of fixtures ahead, although Phillips is not looking past the trip to Chelsea and subsequent international window.

They then meet both Manchester clubs, including City on the road, and Arsenal.

The two home games in that time will again put Albion in the spotlight as they are shown live on Sky Sports.

They face United on Sunday, November 5 (6.45pm) and Arsenal on Sunday, November 19 (2pm), both at the Broadfield Stadium.

Those are tough tests in which to learn on the job.

But there is a lot of quality and experience in the squad and Phillips is confident they will progress.

She said: “We have had a positive run from pre-season and into the first game and now we have faced a little bit of adversity and it is going to be how we respond to that.

“I think the character of the group is fantastic so I have no doubts we will be able to dig deep and really push ourselves to be better week in and week out but we know it is a competitive league and these things take time.”