A brace from Pernille Harder came either side of an unfortunate Kadeisha Buchanan own goal, before substitute Niamh Charles made safe a hugely important three points for the Blues deep into seven minutes of additional time.

Harder combined neatly with Guro Reiten on 37 minutes, with the latter producing a trademark cross from the left for the Dane to nod home in clinical fashion. Everton started the second half brightly and forced an equaliser when a scramble in the box deflected off Buchanan and into the net.

However, we stuck to the task and were awarded a penalty just shy of the hour mark when Reiten was brought down by Everton goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan. Harder stepped up to the plate and expertly dispatched into the bottom corner from 12 yards to restore our advantage.

The Blues were required to dig deep as Everton went in search of an equaliser, but the points were confirmed when Charles, fresh from the bench, drilled the ball home from the edge of the box in stoppage time securing a vital three points on Merseyside, in the absence of manager Emma Hayes.

Reflecting on the performance, Green expressed his satisfaction at the result and was full of praise for the togetherness shown by the players throughout a challenging week.

‘We’re absolutely delighted to come to a tough place in Everton, a very improving team and give a professional performance and get the three points that we set out to. We’re really happy that Pernille is back in the squad and comes back with a brace. We thought it was a really professional performance in trying circumstances this week without Emma. I thought everyone pulled together and we were worthy winners.’

Having struggled with injury at the start of the season, Harder returned to the starting line-up with two well-taken goals and Green is hopeful this can be a catalyst for her moving forward.

‘We’ve missed her in the early part of the season, but coming back and having a player of her quality in our squad when we were missing Fran through illness, it was great to be able to call upon her services.

‘I thought in particular her first goal was a great team move that she finished off really well, then showed great composure for the penalty in a crucial moment in the game where we got the 2-1 lead back. We’re really delighted Pernille is back and look forward to her hopefully staying fit and healthy for the rest of the season.’

Although pleased with the football we played, Green acknowledged there is room for improvement in terms of being more clinical in front of goal.

‘When you’ve got Pernille or Guro with their combination play down the side, I did think we caused them a lot of problems particularly in the first half. We tweaked the way we play and I thought they combined really well.

‘We should have probably got one or two more goals in that first half through some of those combinations down the left-hand side, with balls pulled back into the box where we were just a little off target. I think if we’d have been more clinical in the final third we could have had a couple more goals, particularly in the first half.’

Hayes may have been absent from the dugout, but the manager was certainly keeping a close eye on proceedings and Green explained the influence she was having from afar.

‘She was linked into the bench directly to Denise, she was in Denise’s ear throughout the game. Like I said in the press conference earlier in the week, we are a very experienced group of staff and very experienced group of players so we are well equipped to deal with this situation.

‘I think testament to everybody this week and moving forward that we will have the confidence to get the results we need in this period to make sure that when Emma comes back, we are challenging on all fronts. That’s the aim of the staff and I think everyone has really stepped up this week and will continue to do that in Emma’s absence.’

Another absentee from the travelling party was Fran Kirby who didn’t make the journey north as a precaution, after she reported feeling unwell with Green saying there was no need to take any risks.

‘We just didn’t take any chances with her. She reported with a little illness and we just thought with the games coming up, we’ve got a lot of games in a short period of time, there was no real need to bring her with the quality we’ve got in our squad. We thought if she stays at home, hopefully recovers this weekend and then fingers crossed she’ll be well enough to be in the travelling party and the squad for midweek.’

Assessing the increasingly competitive nature of the Women’s Super League, Green emphasised the need for the players to adopt ultimate concentration and discipline with every game that comes.

‘You are getting better quality players, better quality coaches coming into the league and I think it’s the most competitive it’s ever been. There are no easy games in the league now. You need to be on it to get the three points. We’ve seen that in the league with some of the results. Villa had started the season winning every game and West Ham had gone there and won, or we got beat at Liverpool. Any team is capable of beating any other on any given day.’