After a record-breaking 34-game unbeaten streak in the WSL, the Blues succumbed to defeat to Kingsmeadow on Sunday as the Toffees secured a backs-to-the-wall 1-0 victory.

The result put us six points behind league leaders Manchester City, but Bronze believes our current situation is a by-product of the ever-increasing standards of sides in the WSL. And for that reason alone, she feels there is still a long way to go until the league winner is decided.

‘We’re not even at Christmas, and there's plenty more games to play,’ said the England international. ‘Not just for City, but for (Manchester) United, for Arsenal. We've all got to play against each other, and they've all got to play against teams like Everton, who are looking to pick up points as well.

‘It's not just us. You saw yesterday that Liverpool almost took a point off Arsenal; it's just the way the league is. We wanted it to be more competitive – and we're happy to take on that challenge.’

Chelsea fired 30 shots towards Everton’s goal across the 90 minutes, hitting the woodwork on four occasions. Added to a raft of fine saves from Courtney Brosnan, on another day, this could’ve been a match that the Blues won comfortably.

Bronze felt those fine margins were the difference between winning and losing, sprinkled in with a touch of fatigue from a squad in which almost every player was called up to play for their respective countries during the international break.

‘We just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net,’ she continued. ‘They had one attack – not even a chance – they had one attack in our half. They scored, and we hit the post. We missed a few chances, and the ball was cleared off the line a few times

‘It was just a few inches from really winning the game and even scoring a couple of goals. But I guess that's the league. We've come back from international break, probably not firing as fast as we could have in the beginning.

‘I think we did enough to at least get a point in the game, but that's football, and Everton played their part in the game, worked hard, defended really well, and their goalkeeper had a really good game.’

While our unbeaten run in the league has ended, Bronze is philosophical about what that means, as the Blues lost the first leg of our Women’s Champions League quarter-final against Man City last season and were beaten home and away in the semi-final against Barcelona.

She instead wants to focus on the future, and with that in mind, is delighted that her fellow Lioness Lauren James has now returned to fitness.

‘We did lose a game last year, it was just in the Champions League, so it's not like we're not used to it,’ concluded Bronze. ‘We know how to lose games and to keep ourselves up, and we probably didn't deserve to lose the game against Everton. That's football.

‘I think we'll be fine to keep going and move forward. I think the performance was good, and it's disappointing to drop points in the league because it's so competitive, but you can't be too negative.

‘It's amazing to have LJ back, to see her quality, it’s like nothing else you see in the league or in Europe. It makes a huge difference, and we've just got to be patient with her while she gets fully fit.’