Chelsea FC Women switch focus back to the race for the Barclay’s FA Women’s Super League title as we welcome Birmingham City to Kingsmeadow this afternoon, and Jess Carter is expecting her former club to provide the Blues with a difficult challenge.
Chelsea go into today’s game off the back of our emphatic Champions League quarter-final victory over Wolfsburg on Wednesday and with just two points separating the Blues and second-placed Manchester City, today’s clash with Birmingham is another important game for Emma Hayes side.
Carter spent five years with the Midlands side before joining Chelsea and the defender says the Blues will need to be ready for a tough battle in today’s 12.30pm kick-off.
She said: ‘From being a former Birmingham player, I know how difficult they can be to break down.
‘They’ll be organised, and they’ll be hard to beat. They work so hard every single game and they put their bodies on the line to defend.
‘I think they might bank up against us and they are going to want to win every first and second ball.
‘It’s going to be a fight and we’ve got to take that fight to them as well as the respect.’
Following today’s game, Chelsea will have just three league fixtures remaining with visits to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur before our final home game of the season against Reading.
Chelsea’s upcoming games, including today’s match against Birmingham are must-wins if the Blues are to retain our WSL title and Carter says the Blues will prepare for the visit of Birmingham in the same way we did for our Champions League quarter-final in midweek.
She added: ‘It’s that tight at the top that any mistake can cost you the league, so we have to go into our game against Birmingham with as much preparation as we went into the Wolfsburg game with.
‘We’ve got to respect what they are good at and be ready to take on that challenge and get three points.’
Today’s game kicks-off at 12.30pm and is available to watch on the BBC Red Button, with live coverage beginning at 12.20pm.