A great day for the Blues in Bristol saw us overcome Manchester United 2-0 in a tough cup final, claiming our first trophy of the season and the fourth under the leadership of head coach Sonia Bompastor.

For Cuthbert – who wore the captain’s armband for this final, in the absence of injured skipper Millie Bright – it provided yet another winner’s medal in her nine incredibly successful years at Chelsea.

‘Just looking over and seeing the sea of blue flags, it’s special,’ said the midfielder, after securing the latest piece of silverware in her illustrious Blues career.

‘I’ve been here a long time, it means the same to me every single time I win a trophy, but as captain you take a lot of the responsibility. So what a day!’

We had to show plenty of grit and determination to secure that trophy, though. It was initially an evenly matched final, before Lauren James fired us into a first-half lead and Aggie Beever-Jones extended our advantage after the break.

‘It was a battle,’ Cuthbert continued. ‘It’s always hard coming off the back of an international break. It’s not really on form, you don’t really know how it’s going to go.

‘Like I said pre-match, you’ve just got to find a way to win, and we did that on Sunday. I think we were pretty dominant over the course of the game.’

As much as Erin enjoyed the victory, she feels this latest trophy’s true value could come in the weeks ahead, if we can use this triumph to propel us to further glory before the end of 2025/26.

This competition has ended in glory, but the Blues are still competing across three more fronts, in the Women’s FA Cup, UEFA Women’s Champions League and Women’s Super League.

That starts when we host Brighton & Hove Albion in the WSL on Wednesday, explaining why Cuthbert and her team-mates have been warned off celebrating this trophy too much, as attention quickly turns to preparations for our next game.

‘No celebrations,’ she insisted with a laugh. ‘The gaffer’s already warned us, there’s no chance!

‘We’ve got another game on Wednesday. This win has got to give us momentum, it’s got to give us belief that we are a good team.

‘We’ve had up and down spells this season, but we’re a good team and we can beat anybody on our day.’