Chelsea Ladies expected Kirby’s confident start

Fran Kirby’s goalscoring debut was just what the Chelsea Ladies management expected.

The England international, who joined the Women’s Super League leaders from second-tier side Reading last month, scored after coming off the bench in the 4-0 thrashing of Birmingham on Sunday.

Head of development and first-team coach Robert Udberg [pictured above] told West London Sport: “Her finish against Birmingham was incredibly calm and classy and just what we expected.

“Fran always plays with confidence and has had confidence since she hit the training ground.

“She has great personality, great self-belief and justifiably so.”

The impressive victory over Birmingham at Staines took the Blues back to the top of the table by a point from Sunderland, although Manchester City Women are only three points behind with a game in hand.

Chelsea face Arsenal in the Continental Tyres Cup at Staines on Sunday and Watford away in the same competition on Wednesday.

The FA Cup winners resume their league campaign with an away game against Arsenal on Sunday, 23 August – one of just four remaining league matches.

“Every week is a busy challenging week,” Udberg added. “But we have been asking for a competitive league for a few years now and now we have got a competitive one so we cannot complain.

“We have to embrace it and it’s great. You have to give everything in every game and that’s fantastic for coaches and players.”

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