Eriksson was a secon-half substitute as the Blues cruised to a 3-0 win at a windy Walton Hall Park. Our captain got a crucial half an hour under her belt as she returned to the side for the first time since picking up an injury against Wolfsburg in December.

First-half goals from Sam Kerr, Guro Reiten and Erin Cuthbert sealed victory for Hayes’ side.

On her return to the team, Eriksson said: ‘It feels amazing, it’s been a long, hard journey for me and it was really nice to be out there with the team again playing with my girls.’

The skipper was full of praise for her side who put in a professional performance to claim a vital three points as the race for the WSL title gets hotter towards the back end of the season.

‘We were extremely good in the first half, really front-footed, really got the game where we wanted. Two quick goals in the beginning and then we could just see the game out from there. It was nice to see girls getting minutes, very well-deserved minutes, also nice to see Maren Mjelde back in the team again.

‘We still always try to score more, we’re eager to score more but there was a lot of substitutes and also the wind was against us so it was quite difficult to play out. Still a solid second-half performance, didn’t really give up any chances and we kept a clean sheet which is something we really praise.’

The Blues are just two points behind Arsenal and have a game in hand over the Gunners, who currently sit at the top of the league.

On the importance of picking up points with our games in hand, our No.16 said: ‘That’s what we’re doing now, just taking it game by game, focusing on the next performance and getting the wins that we can and affecting it on our end.

‘Whatever happens on their end we can’t affect but whatever we do it’s all we can control, so that’s all we’re going to keep going now until the end of the season.’

Beth England, Cuthbert and Mjelde have also recently made returns to the team following injuries. Eriksson discussed the importance of squad depth during the upcoming run of games.

‘It’s extremely important. Some girls have had to play a lot of minutes and are building up fatigue so the fact that we have a deep squad that can offload players, it means so much and also it’s deserved because there is so much quality in this team. It’s amazing to see them everyday on the training pitch and then see things pull off in games as well.'

The travelling Blues fans made their voices heard as they cheered the team to victory on Mersyside.

‘I don’t have enough words to say how much I appreciate our fans. The amount of time they put in to follow us up and down the country… it’s just amazing and to hear them shout the girls names throughout the games in this freezing cold weather, it means so much to us. We got a nice selfie with them together after the game! We all appreciate them.’

Hayes’ side are back in action again this Sunday when we host Birmingham City at Kingsmeadow in the quarter-final of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.