Chelsea FC Women have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the Continental Tyres Cup but defender Jonna Andersson insists the Blues will go into tonight’s final group fixture against Reading with the aim of getting three points.
Emma Hayes’s side currently top the group with four wins having beat West Ham United, Crystal Palace, Lewes and Tottenham Hotspur while Reading sit in second-place after three wins and a loss.
The Blues will go through as group winners should they get a victory against Reading and Andersson says the team will not be dropping their standards at Kingsmeadow this evening.
She said: ‘It’s a really important game and we will go into it wanting the three points. We want to win the group and we want a home draw for the quarter-final so we will be ready for that game.
‘We now have two games left before the Christmas break and we want three points in both of those fixtures. When we play Reading or any team in the league, we know it’s going to be tough.
‘We know Reading are a tough team with physical players so it’s going to be a difficult game on Wednesday.’
Tonight’s fixture against Reading will be Chelsea’s second of three games in the space of a week with a league fixture at Liverpool on Sunday coming up and with that in mind, Hayes is expected to make some changes to tonight’s starting 11.
Blues right-back Maren Mjelde was the unexpected match winner on Sunday afternoon when the team came from 1-0 down to beat Manchester City and Andersson believes the Chelsea squad is packed full of players who can make the difference in close games.
She added: ‘We now have different players that can score. It’s not just the strikers. You can see that Beth (England) is scoring but now in the important games, other players are stepping up.
‘We saw Maren get a goal, I don’t know if she took it into the net with her leg but either way it was great to see her get on the scoresheet.’
Tickets are still available for tonight’s 7pm kick-off at Kingsmeadow, priced at just £3 for adults and £1 for juniors (under-16) and seniors (over 65). you can purchase tickets at our matchday ticketing booth from 5.30pm.
Chelsea's next home game will be in the New Year when we take on tonight's opponent, Reading, in the Women's Super League on Sunday 5 January. It is a 2pm kick-off and tickets cost £9 for adults and £1 for juniors (under-16) and seniors (over 65).