Ashley Westwood says he is fully focused on his job with Hong Kong and is already plotting more success, after the 5-0 thumping of Guam that secured qualification for next year’s East Asian Football Federation Championship finals.
One of Westwood’s predecessors, fellow Englishman Gary White, was lured away by Tokyo Verdy after a successful EAFF qualifying campaign in 2018, despite being charge for only three months.
Westwood, whose six-match winning run will inevitably draw admiring glances from elsewhere, has been in the job for almost four months ago.
But Westwood said he had not given a thought about potential offers from clubs or national teams, and was focused only on success, adding “we are starting to show some here”.
“I don’t want to rest on this and think we’re flying, because football has a nasty habit of catching you on the neck when you think you’re doing well,” Westwood said. “I’m not looking too far ahead – I have the bit between my teeth and am fully focused.”
Hong Kong’s next proper international fixture is not until March, when they face Singapore in the first of their AFC Asian Cup qualifying matches, and Westwood said he planned to spent the next several days working with technical director John Morling on “what to do next and the best strategy to give a good account of ourselves against Singapore”.
