James was one of two changes to the starting 11 from the previous league game against West Ham United, impressing with an influential attacking and defensive display as the Blues recorded our third consecutive league victory on Merseyside.

The hosts started the brighter of the two teams but we began to move through the gears, creating chances before breaking the hosts' resolve thanks to Pernille Harder, who headed home from Guro Reiten’s enticing cross on 37 minutes.

Shortly after the break, Everton drew level through an unfortunate own goal from Kadeisha Buchanan. However, our composure was rewarded with a spot-kick which Harder coolly converted, before Niamh Charles put the icing on the cake with a clinical finish in additional time.

Having played a key role in starting our attacking moves, James reflected on a progressive performance against resolute opposition, as we grew into a match where the talent within the squad shone through.

‘I thought it was a tough game. Everton set out to defend well and made it difficult for us. We have enough quality in the group to be able to come out with the win. I thought our performance increased and we got better as the game went on.’

We needed to do some defending in the early exchanges as Everton came out of the blocks with purpose. James recognised the importance of getting the first goal which laid the foundations to go on and claim all three points.

‘It allowed us to breathe, once the first goal went in, but sometimes it can kind of make you take your foot off the gas. We were just happy to get the win and the extra two goals.’

The Blues created good chances to increase our lead in the first half, but these went begging and we took a precarious one-goal lead into half-time. James said the message to the players was clear and praised the team’s response in the second half.

‘Stay calm and finish the game off because obviously we wanted to come away with the win and move onto Thursday. I think there is a lot of character in this team, a lot of experience and then some youth. It’s a good mixture and it helps us come through games.’

With manager Emma Hayes absent from the touchline, James hopes the result pleased the head coach and expressed a desire to repeat the success against Paris Saint-Germain this week, as we begin our UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign across the channel.

‘She’s probably at home on the edge of her sofa. It’s nice to get the win for her so she can breathe a little bit for the rest of her Sunday afternoon. We look forward to hopefully making her proud on Thursday too.

‘Now that this game is out the way, we’ve got the win, all our focus is on Thursday against PSG. We go there and we always want to win, so we look to win that game.’