Ready for Wembley and a record attendance for a women’s cup final

Losing against Manchester City to a late goal was hard to take – especially as we played so well.

Games against City are always tight and they got the luck this time, with a deflected goal off my head. But I didn’t feel like I had any option but to go for it. I couldn’t duck out – that would have been worse.

After a setback like that you have to focus and bounce back. It’s not something you can dwell on – it happens.

And our chance to bounce back is the Women’s FA Cup final against Notts County at Wembley, no less.

The Wembley wow factor
On Wednesday we took the opportunity to visit Wembley and get familiar with the place ahead of Saturday’s big game.

A lot of the younger players and foreign players have never been there before so it’s great to have a tour before the day so it’s not such a shock when we arrive for the match.

We need to play the game, not the occasion, so we don’t want to turn up and look around and think “Wow, look at this” and forget why we are there. It will be daunting, so having that experience will help us.

More than 26,000 tickets have already been sold and the FA expect around another 4,000 or so on the day – and it could be even more. It’s likely to be a record attendance for a Women’s FA Cup final – but there are still tickets left if you want to go to Wembley and cheer us on!

Facing the Lady Pies
We have beaten Notts already this season and know what to expect. They play a more direct style than us and are tricky to break down, but we’re very confident we will win if we play as well as we can.

We have the movement and quality in attack to trouble any side and we’re all looking forward to playing in such a big match in front of a big crowd and television audience – and in such a big occasion

We’re all striving to showcase what we can do. We did it on the international stage at the World Cup and this is a another chance to prove the quality of the women’s game.

Kirby class
Many people have asked me about Fran Kirby – my England team-mate who recently joined me at Chelsea.

She’s a great player who terrorises defenders and signing her was also a great strategic move by the club. It shows the long-term plan is very much part of the thinking.

I think we’d been after another attacking player for a while and Fran fits the bill perfectly. She has fantastic enthusiasm and loves to turn and run at defenders.

She plays with freedom, gets in good areas and scores goals. She is full of confidence and is aware of the ability she has. It’s a very exciting signing.

Playing at Chelsea, with the players we have, she can really shine.

Supporters can still purchase tickets for the Women’s FA Cup final through the FA, either online or by calling 0844 826 2010.

The game kicks off at Wembley on Saturday, 1st August at 3pm. You can follow updates and behind-the-scenes build-up on the official Chelsea Ladies Twitter account at @ChelseaLFC.

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