The Blues 2-1 win on Wednesday evening moved Emma Hayes’s side to within four points of the league leaders with two games in hand and that means there is still plenty of work to do. There are five games to go in the WSL title race plus an FA Cup final against table-topping Manchester United.

‘This felt exactly like a cup final,’ Charles admitted after beating Liverpool.

‘We didn’t start well, conceding a goal early, and we’re not happy about that at all. Straightaway they’ve started the game well and we’re always chasing. That’s something we need to look at.

‘It was good to fight back in the end and hopefully we can take that momentum into the next game.

‘We probably weren’t aggressive enough [at the start], didn’t get enough pressure on the ball. They were able to play in behind and were very clinical. We could definitely do better with that.’

While it was Sam Kerr’s 86th-minute winner which grabbed the headlines, it was Charles who scored an important equaliser equally close to the end of the first half, heading in a near-post corner.

‘That’s where I’m told to go on set-pieces and if it comes to me, I’m going to try and get my head on it! I had another chance that I probably should have scored as well, but I’m just thankful for the win.

‘As the first half went on, and into the second half, we were able to switch it more, and we had a bit more ball speed across the back which made it harder [for Liverpool] to defend. We needed to be patient so that when they came out we’d find the space, and thankfully we did in the end.’

Emma Hayes praised what she called a new level of digging in and grinding out a result, and her versatile player Charles reflected on the squad’s ability to find late goals.  

‘It shows what we’re all about at Chelsea – never giving in and giving absolutely everything until the final whistle. We could feel satisfied at a job well done. It wasn’t as easy as we’d like to have made it, but credit Liverpool, they did so well and they’ve taken points off a lot of teams this season, including us. Hopefully now we can take that momentum into the next games, because they’re all cup finals.’