Hope Powell: Draw against Chelsea will give us confidence for champions Arsenal

Hope Powell took great encouragement from Brighton’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea last Sunday to claim a point against one of the top teams in the FA Women’s Super League.
Aileen Whelan (Geoff Penn)Aileen Whelan (Geoff Penn)
Aileen Whelan (Geoff Penn)

Albion took the lead through Aileen Whelan in the 84th minute and looked on course for a famous win but Adelina Engman’s stoppage-time strike for Chelsea saw the visitors claim a point.

Powell said, “The fact that we conceded in injury time was disappointing, but we’ve got to give Chelsea credit for really coming at us in those last three minutes, and a point is better than losing the game.

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“We worked really hard in pre-season on a game plan against sides with Chelsea’s quality, and I thought the players stuck to it well and executed it for most of the game.

“Chelsea are a team that are full of internationals, so we really had to be on our game. The whole team put in a shift today, and I’m very pleased in that sense.”

Albion, who have two points from their opening two matches, are next in league action at reigning champions Arsenal in a fortnight’s time.

“It’s got to give us some confidence heading into the next game,” Powell said. “ We recognise that Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City are above everyone else, but on our day we’ll give it a go and know we’ll have to be at our very best to get a result.

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“We have some experience under our belts in this league now, and all the players are putting in the work to do better than last season.

“We’ve still only been in this league for one season, and we have to recognise the demands of what’s required.

“If you’re not at the races, then you will get punished very quickly. We have taken some big knocks already at this level, but the focus is always on the next game.”

Brighton: Walsh, Lundorf Skovsen, Williams, Kerkdijk, Gibbons, Le Garrec (Simpkins 85) Bowman, Connolly, Brazil, Umotong (Green, 65), Whelan.

Chelsea: Berger, Mjelde, Bright, Eriksson, Andersson, Reiten, Spence (Bachmannat 65), Ingle (Thorisdottir, 86), Ji, England, Cuthbert (Engman 82)

Referee: Lee Collins

Attendance: 1,352