Bjorn, who suffered a hamstring injury in mid-December, will be out until after the international break at the end of February, while a return for Macario and Charles could be on the cards a little sooner.

'Nat is still doing her rehab,' explained Bompastor. 'We will have to wait for the next block for her, but that's part of the plan. A few other players were not involved in the game today, but for them, it’s nothing big; we are just managing them.

'It wasn’t a case of not risking them, but Cat and Niamh were probably not at their best level to perform in the game today. So that's why we decided not to put them in the squad. They have different problems, but I don’t have any more clarity on their situation yet; hopefully, they will be back in the squad soon.'

Meanwhile, the coach praised Lauren James, who had previously made her comeback from injury when she came on as a second-half substitute during our UEFA Women's Champions League victory over St Polten.

Since then, the dynamic forward has been building up her minutes, and Bompastor handed her a place in the starting line-up against West Ham. James repaid that faith with a goal in the 5-0 win, and the head coach feels she is getting closer to showing her best form.

'In December, we had LJ back available in the squad, but she was not at her best level in terms of fitness,' Bompastor continued. 'Part of the process was for her to be involved in some games to get that fitness back.

'As you could see in December, she was getting minutes, but probably not performing at her best level. She knew that, and we knew that, but now she's back to a better level of fitness. I think you could see the difference in the game today.'