The Blues were given the opportunity to take the lead in the opening two minutes of our clash at Walton Hall Park when the referee awarded a penalty for a handball in the box.

Everton’s goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela denied Melanie Leupolz from 12 yards out but Emma Hayes’ side responded well following the missed penalty and took the lead through Fran Kirby 10 minutes later.

Second-half goals from Pernille Harder and Leupolz topped off an impressive performance on Merseyside and Charles hailed the response from the Blues after the early penalty miss.

She said: ‘It says everything about the mentality of the team. To deal with setbacks in the game, solve the problem and keep on going.

‘It was about us not thinking about the moment and think about the next one. We recovered well from that and we didn’t let it affect us.’

Chelsea have now won six consecutive away league matches without conceding and speaking at full-time, Charles highlighted the importance of keeping a good defensive record.

‘The clean sheets are massive,’ she said. ‘If you are getting clean sheets then you aren’t going to lose and that’s something you can build on.

‘Even when we had scored the goals, the girls were still pushing for the clean sheet.

‘It’s just as important as scoring the goals.’

Charles has played her part in our impressive defensive showings, slotting into an unfamiliar position of right-back for our away victory at West Ham United as well as Wednesday’s win at Everton, and the 21-year-old is relishing the new responsibility.

She said: ‘I’m enjoying it. I’m getting a lot of help from the people around me, so they make it great. The communication around me is really helping me and I really enjoyed playing there tonight.

‘I’m learning to be more conscious with what I’m doing. It’s about being switched on to the what ifs. Maybe when I was playing further forward, I took for granted what the people behind me was doing.

‘The back line and the people around me are helping me to make sure I’m switched on for the whole game.’

Chelsea Women are next in action on Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Wolfsburg. Kick-off is 4pm.