The Blues ended 2022 on a nine-match winning streak in the league, seeing them finish the year with a three-point advantage at the top of the table, while also progressing to the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals as group winners with five wins and one draw.

We returned from the mid-season break and embarked on a warm-weather training camp to Spain, where the players were put through their paces on the training pitch while also enjoying some downtime in different surroundings.

It’s a big month as the Blues compete across three domestic competitions as we get our Vitality Women’s FA Cup and Continental League Cup campaigns underway but not before two crucial WSL encounters, starting with the trip to north London on Sunday.

Ahead of this eagerly-awaited London derby, Canadian midfielder Fleming sat down to reflect on the winter break which gave the players a chance to rest and recharge, but emphasised the sense of excitement at the prospect of getting back onto the pitch.

‘For us a team, we’ve been back together for over a week now. It was good that we had a break. When we’re in this environment together, it’s quite intense and expectations are quite high. We’re all very competitive and so everyone is feeling re-energised from the break after getting a chance to spend time with family.

‘You almost get that burst of inspiration and excitement to be back and playing again with the team. Arsenal are a team we really enjoy playing, they’re always going to be close to the top of the table so it’s not a hard game to get up for.’

No matter the opponent, the approach in the build-up to the game is always the same. Fleming highlights the intensity of training sessions and believes the standards being set have contributed to a successful first half of the season.

‘We prepare for every team we play in the same way. Every day in training, we’re driving those standards and it feels like our training sessions are harder than most, if not all, of the games we play this season.

‘Our preparation is the same, we consistently prepare in the same way with the same intensity every week.’

There was plenty of praise from Fleming for the coaching team and the conditions they create for the players, which allows them to prepare as effectively as possible to deliver the game plan when it comes to matchday.

‘I look at the quality of our training sessions week in, week out. We work really hard in training and the staff create a really competitive, intense environment for us and demand a lot from us as players. A lot of it comes down to the training environment day in, day out.

‘With the performances, it’s us being able to execute a game plan. We’ve grown over the season, but we’re still not at our best and that’s really exciting. You get more used to the system, playing different partnerships and that chemistry adds to the performances.’

With so much talk around this fixture, it is vital for the players to ensure their focus remains solely on their own performances. Fleming says this is the approach that has been taken consistently throughout the season to date.

‘It’s extremely important. At the end of the day, all that we can control is Chelsea and what we do. We can’t control the line-up the opposition puts out or how they are going to perform.

‘It’s our responsibility to focus on putting on a good performance, it’s that simple. This is the language we’ve been using all season and carry forward with us, just putting the attention on us.’