For the fourth game in a row in the Women’s Super League, this Sunday brings a London derby for the Blues, as we travel away to Crystal Palace on a run of five consecutive wins in that competition.

Bompastor confirmed that with the exception of Naomi Girma – who is recovering from a calf injury – every member of the squad is in contention to be involved against the Eagles, including potential debutant and Ballon d’Or nominee Manaka Matsukubo.

Here are the rest of the key talking points from our head coach’s pre-match press conference on Thursday.

On picking up where we left off with the 6-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur last time out…

‘I think we need to carry over the confidence. Right now we are a team who is playing with confidence on the pitch.

‘On the defensive aspects probably on Sunday we didn't have time enough to remind everyone in terms of the game model what we wanted to achieve in all of the aspects of the defensive phase. It was a quick turnaround with the Tottenham game, but we had a good review with the players.

‘I think in possession of the ball we are carrying the fact we are creating a lot of opportunities in every game we are playing right now and we are being clinical and ruthless in the box as well.

‘So we need to carry over those positives going to the Sunday game.’

On summer signing Giulia Dragoni getting her chances…

'Giulia is a young, talented player. She joined us in the summer. I think for now you didn't have the opportunity to see her a lot with us. It means, again, right now I have a lot of players available and the competition is high in the squad.

'I'm really happy with Giulia joining us. I think sometimes for young players it takes a little while to settle in the team and to be able to get those minutes and to become a more important player for us, but I'm really pleased with Giulia's mentality.

'I think on and off the pitch she's a great person, great player. When she is on the pitch she works really hard. I'm really pleased with her mindset and mentality. She always wants to work hard, she always wants to improve, she's always keen to do more and I think, joining us, she's in a good place right now.

'I'm hoping for her to be able to get some minutes, some exposure. She played some minutes, but probably not at the level she would like to. But I'm confident because she has the right mindset and she's working with the right mentality.

'So I know these opportunities will come. I know she will be ready to take the opportunities and to show what she's capable of, and the quality she has as a player as well.'

On Ellie Carpenter’s impressive recent form…

‘Ellie is performing at a really good level. She's got two goals from her left foot, which is unusual. So right now she's performing at a really good level, being able to impact the game the way we want to play as a team.

‘She's really important out of possession and in possession, being able to repeat the efforts in that corridor. I think she brings a lot in possession of the ball, she always has this mindset and mentality to go forward.

‘She has a lot of pace, she's improving a lot in terms of the technical aspects. She's now able to deliver really good crosses, but also to be in the box and to be clinical to score some goals.

‘I'm not sure she can have a bigger impact than what she's doing right now, so it's great for us.’

On managing Lauren James’ fitness…

‘I think the key on those aspects is to have a regular conversation with Lauren. As you can see, when she's fit and available, she's one of the best in the world.

‘For us it's really important to get some feedback on how she feels because I think she knows her body, but also for us with the competence we have in the staff to make sure we make together the right plan for her.

‘It's making sure in terms of the load going into the game, she gets the right thing, because also we are in a team where all the aspects of the game plan and the game model are really demanding, with the ball, without the ball.

‘So we just make sure we do what is appropriate for her body, and it's a lot of conversations. We almost have a conversation with her every day and that's really important for us to get the plan right.'

On Lexi Potter’s time on loan at Crystal Palace…

‘I think it was really important. I think in every player’s journey it is important sometimes to go on loan and to play minutes in a different environment. Things are really different sometimes when you are in a different club, in a different environment.

‘Sometimes when you can be a player who is a leader but maybe not the main leader in a squad like the Chelsea squad, you can suddenly become the main leader in a different team. So I think for her, being a main leader in that environment was crucial.

‘The fact she could play many minutes for them was also crucial for her development, but also for her confidence. Coming back to us, it was also making sure we were giving her the opportunity to get these minutes and now to be in a place where she can perform on a consistent basis.

‘Now she just has the opportunity to play in most of the games, performing really well, and I think having that loan at Crystal Palace was probably really beneficial for her to be where she is right now.’