The Blues enter at the fourth round stage, meaning we would have to win our next four games in the competition to make it through to a second consecutive final.

While Bompastor has fond memories of lifting the trophy after beating Women's Super League rivals Manchester United by a 3-0 scoreline last May, the head coach is taking things step by step.

'It’s always difficult to retain any trophy in any competition,' said the head coach. 'When a team plays against the holders, they have strong motivation, so that will be the case on Saturday against Palace. We are used to that and we have the experience.

'I’m not quite yet thinking about what it would mean to win the FA Cup for a second time because we are just starting the competition on Saturday. I was glad that we could win the trophy at Wembley last season because it means a lot in England. It was amazing to have experienced that as a manager.

'Of course, we want to go as far as possible in this competition. We want to win it again if possible, but there’s a long way to go. We still have a lot of games to play, and if we want to progress in the competition, then first we have to focus on the game on Saturday. We need to win that game if we want to go through to the next round.

'In the second half of the season, we need to make sure we come into every game with a lot of energy and play our best football if we want to be successful.'

Chelsea beat Crystal Palace three times last season by an aggregate score of 12 goals to nil. The Eagles were relegated to the women's second tier at the end of the campaign, but those encounters are now firmly in the past as far as Bompastor is concerned.

Preparations for Saturday's match have been as thorough as ever, and the Chelsea head coach and her staff have discovered where the strengths of our latest opponents lie.

'I don’t want to focus too much on last season,' continued Bompastor. 'I have watched most of their games. If you reflect on the game, the result and the performance they had against Arsenal, they could’ve scored against one of the top teams in the WSL.

'For the game on Sunday, we expect Crystal Palace to come and show their strength in transition. They have some players in the front line who have speed and can hurt us with their technicality.

'We will be aware of that, and we also want to focus on our team to play at our best level. We’ll have a home game, and we know it’s a cup game, so mentally, we will need to be ready for that.'