A brace from Lauren James either side of Rachel Daly’s close-range finish set us on our way, before Sam Kerr put some daylight between the teams with a third goal which helped us towards a crucial three points.

James opened the scoring with a sweeping left-foot strike into the far corner, before Daly turned home Sarah Mayling’s cross to equalise. Just two minutes into the second half, James rifled her second into the roof of the net before turning provider for Kerr to finish from close range.

Reflecting on three points which sees our winning run stretched to seven matches in all competitions, Buchanan was pleased with how the team played and commented on the increasingly competitive nature of the league.

‘Overall, we did well. It’s nice that we get the three points, no game is easy in this competition so it’s good that we got the win. We played well for most of the course of the game.’

The central defender singled out team-mate James for special praise after she inspired our victory with two impressive goals, an assist and an influential all-round display which will work wonders for her confidence.

‘She showed up and it’s good that she got two goals, first two goals of the season and we’re expecting more goals from LJ for the rest of the season. It’s good to get her first two goals and after that it will just keep coming. She had a great game. Overall, it was a good performance from the whole team, but especially LJ. She showed up well for us today.’

Patience and resilience are among several positive traits associated with this team. Buchanan gave an insight into the discussions at half-time after going in level with patience and simplicity key to regaining control of the game.

‘Even when they scored, the team knew we could do better. The players and the coaches were on the same page about how to respond. Be more patient, don’t get frustrated, we have more time than we think we have on the ball so just make the good pass. It was just to keep it simple.’

With those words still ringing in the players ears, we retook the lead just two minutes after the restart. Buchanan felt that coming out of the blocks quickly set the tone for the remainder of the half and helped to settle any nerves.

‘It gave more calmness to the game. It’s always nice when you’re up and not tied, it’s less stress. It was great from LJ to keep us going, put us on the scoresheet and give us the lead again so that helped us a lot for the rest of the half.’

For the first time since returning from the international break, we have one full week to prepare for our next game, a huge encounter with Manchester United next Sunday and Buchanan is appreciative of the extra recovery time ahead of another difficult test.

‘My body is excited to get a little break and no in-between games! It will be good for us because Manchester United is not going to be easy, so we need to get all the rest we can.’