Steph: “Big credit to Selina and Mariona”

Steph Catley was full of praise for second-half substitutes Selina Cerci and Mariona Caldentey, whose impact won us the game late on against HB Koge Women on Tuesday.

In the dying embers of our first UEFA Women’s Champions League encounter of the season, after another frustrating match, Cerci’s dribbling ability saw her fouled in the penalty area before Mariona converted the spot kick.

“I think that's such an amazing part of our squad at the moment, is the depth,” Catley said. “The players coming off the bench are doing massive things, and it was Selina winning the penalty, it was Mariona coming on and scoring the penalty, so people put in the work in the first half, tire them down, and then those players come in and do exactly what they're supposed to do. Yeah, big credit to them.

“Obviously very nice to get the result in the end. It was a little bit of a slog and all credit to them. I thought they defended really, really well. They had a clear game plan, they executed, they've got great players.

“Every game in the Champions League is so tough, so the fact we've come away with three points today is really important, and there's lots of positive to take out of it too.”

Supporters at Meadow Park were noisy all night long, willing us on to make the breakthrough, so Catley was delighted that we finally managed to repay their support with a late winner.

“They've been incredible,” she said. “They always show up for us, no matter what. Like you said, it is a bit tough at the moment, and we're doing everything we can to work it out and to come out firing for them always. We're always giving 100 per cent.

“We want to do all the right things, and we want to put on our best performance for them always, but they're always there, they show up for us, they're loud, they're proud of us. So, yeah, we just thank them always for that.”

Up next, we head to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the WSL.

“It's a massive game at the moment,” Steph added. “It's just about focusing on every game as it comes. Obviously, tonight was full focus on this, but big game on the weekend against Chelsea, so we'll be ready for that.”