After scoring in our first two Women's Super League matches of the season, LJ was not named in the squad against Birmingham City, and Bompastor explained the reason for her absence.

'In our last training session, she just got a knock,' said the head coach. 'She will probably be out of the game on Wednesday, but we are hoping for her to be back next weekend.

'I am a manager who really wants my team to work with a lot of intensity. We work hard, and the duels are sometimes important in training, but also the intensity. We work a lot on the counter-press. I'm asking my players to come on the pitch and do their best and bring a lot of energy.

'So in this environment, if you want to be able to win this league, you want to also be able to win the Champions League; you need to work at your maximum intensity. And when you are demanding like this with the players, especially when they play every three days, injuries can happen.

'Every team gets injuries. It's more about how you perform when you have injured players, and how long they need to be able to return to the pitch. That's the thing we are focusing on right now to make sure when we have an injury, we optimise the performance and the recovery for them to get back on the pitch as soon as possible without taking high risks.'

Goals from Lexi Potter and Melvine Malard secured a 2-0 win against Birmingham, but the goals were spaced out by almost an hour.

Our first was netted after just eight minutes, and Bompastor explained that until Malard doubled the lead, she was concerned Birmingham might find a way back into the contest like Aston Villa did in the first match of the season.

'I think we all felt the same,' she continued. 'Probably we all were thinking about our first opening game here. I'm really pleased with the performance again. We dominated and controlled the game for the most part of the 90 minutes.

'Probably we lost a little bit of control starting the second half in the first 10 or 15 minutes, but we scored an early goal and started strong. I think we could've been winning 2-0 or 3-0 at half-time, because we created enough.

'With Melvine, we were able to score the second goal, and it was a real relief because when you score the second goal, you can manage the game in a different way. I'm pleased with the performance and the result at the end.'

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