Centre-back Magdalena Eriksson has had a fine start to captaincy having led her Chelsea side to an unbeaten run of 10 games in all competitions, with the next test being away to Birmingham City on Sunday afternoon.
Eriksson expects a tough encounter in the Midlands tomorrow, but still has the belief that the Blues will be travelling back to London with all three points.
‘Birmingham are a really good team and we have a history of struggling against them,’ Eriksson admitted.
‘They’ve not started the season very well, but just because they haven’t started it well doesn’t mean they aren’t a good team.
‘We need to take the game as seriously as we have with every game so far and work on being clinical and tidy at the back – it’s all about getting the win really.
‘Everyone feels like they are involved, everyone knows their role and knows that they are really important. We have used the whole squad this year, we rotate a lot and everyone is confident when they get the chance.
‘We’re such a tight group and I feel like you can see that in the performances, we trust each other so that’s really special.’
On Wednesday evening the Blues qualified for the quarter-finals of the Continental League Cup with one game left to play, thumping Tottenham 5-1.
‘I’m really pleased with the performance,' Eriksson says. 'We made a lot of changes and had a lot of players in positions which they are not used to.
‘Full-backs as wingers etc., but I’m really pleased, we grew into the game. We knew it would take some time to find our feet but the second half we were brilliant and we executed really well – I’m just really happy with our performance.’
Eriksson praised the performance of 16-year-old Charlotte Wardlaw who made her first senior start and also spoke about her role as captain.
‘It’s so cool to see such a young kid, a 16-year-old just stepping in and making her mark both offensively and defensively. I thought she was excellent physically as well, she managed to stay in the game the whole 90 minutes and it’s nice to see that we have some young bright future in the academy team.
‘Our back four had never played together, Charlotte [Wardlaw] has come in as a right-back so it’s about taking even more responsibility, doing everything I do normally but times 10 basically. It’s also about just trusting my squad,’ she continued.
The 26-year-old also explained the positive impact that the fans have had on Chelsea’s performances and thanked them for the their continued support.
‘The crowd gives us so much energy,’ she said. ‘In the last 20 minutes when you’re getting tired, just hearing the crowd, hearing them scream for every tackle you make, it’s massive for us.
‘We could feel it against Arsenal and we could feel it against Man United, it gives us extra per cent to push.
‘I love our Chelsea supporter group, they follow us to away games, I think they have been to every away game and I can’t thank them enough for the support they give us.
‘I’ve had so many cheers for a tackle or a winning header and I’m buzzing because I finally get some credit for what I’m doing,’ Eriksson joked.
The Blues return to our KT1 home on Sunday 8 December when we host Manchester City in a top-of-the-table clash. With a bumper crowd expected, book your tickets now. They are priced at £1 for juniors (aged under 20) and seniors (aged over 65) and £9 for adults.
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