The 18-year-old, who has been among the squad throughout the 2020/21 season, is delighted to be ‘officially part of the team’, as she explains in the interview below…

You have been training with the squad for a season now – how great is it to be training day in day out with world-class players?

‘It’s been amazing. Last year we had things against us with Covid and with the Academy not being around, but if anything, last season gave me an opportunity to be with them almost full-time. So for me, it is almost like the silver lining of Covid and with that I have probably pushed on more than I ever have in my short career.

‘It really has been amazing, the support I have from the players, you’d think they would be scary, certainly when I joined I was expecting very high standards which they do have, but there is also that understanding that I’m a young player and developing still. I feel like they are patient with me and they always try and get the best out of me.

‘I really enjoyed last season even though I wasn’t able to play many games I feel like I pushed on really far.’

How important has Emma Hayes and Stuart Searle (goalkeeper coach) been in your development last season?

‘Emma is full of knowledge and experience, she’s been in the game for a long time and holds such high standards and professionalism.

‘Stuart who I have more contact time with is easily one of the best goalkeeper coaches I’ve had. He doesn’t just understand me on the pitch, he also makes sure I’m alright mentally, he sees me as a whole person, not just as a player.

‘I love training with him and I feel like he gets the best out of me and hopefully he’ll be able to get me to the heights I want to get to.’

Who do you look up to the most within the Blues squad?

‘All the goalkeepers, Zecira, Carly and Ann have all supported me so much throughout my time here so far. Carly really takes on a mentoring role being the second coach for me, she looks at my techniques and she tries to help me as much as she can.

‘Based on Ann’s performances last season, she is easily the best ‘keeper in the world in my opinion, particularly after last season’s performances. I really look up to her in that respect and admire how much impact she has in games. Sometimes ‘keepers don’t always get the recognition for how much they can influence a game but she’s kept us in games and I’ve looked up to that tremendously and it’s great to be around her.’

What is your personal aim for next season?

‘My aim for next season is to keep pushing on and hopefully get a few more games under my belt, I would like to start to apply what I’ve learnt next season. I’ve sponged so much up last season so now I feel like it’s time to put it into practise.’

Looking ahead, what do you hope to achieve over the next couple of years at Chelsea?

‘I have big dreams, of course I would love to play a big part in the senior squad for both Chelsea and England. For me it’s just staying competitive in the Chelsea set up, trying to close that gap more and more and maybe get my debut for Chelsea at some point, that would be an amazing thing.’

There is of course competition for the goalkeeper spot, does that give you motivation to keep pushing yourself to get better and better?

‘I think being around such world-class goalkeepers, you’re always being pushed and stretched to the highest of your ability. It’s a weird one with our position because you only have one goalkeeper who can play at a time, but you have that dynamic of us all wanting the best for each other for whoever gets picked on the day, but obviously I’d love to be able to start to be more of a threat in the coming years.

‘That’s the ultimate aim and I don’t think Ann, Zecira or Carly are blind to the fact that that’s what I want to do eventually and hopefully that can happen one day.’

A bit about your own route to this point of your career, how did you get into football and have you always been a goalkeeper?

‘I kind of fell into it, my family aren’t football fans, my dad likes watching the F1 and sport isn’t really my mum's thing. I started playing because I liked beating the boys and proving them wrong, I have always been tall so I had fun against them. Then from there I was playing grassroots and then Brighton noticed me and it went from there.

'When I was younger I wanted to play at Wimbledon, not the World Cup, it wasn’t until I was about eight or nine that football started to become more of a dream of mine.’