Second half goals from Bethany England and substitute Pernille Harder secured a hard-fought victory for the Blues in treacherous conditions at Broadfield Stadium in West Sussex, with the game very nearly falling foul of the elements.

Having knocked on the Brighton door during the first half, we made the breakthrough just shy of the hour mark when Niamh Charles’ header came back off the crossbar and fell for England, who tapped home from close range.

The Blues introduced fresh legs as we went in search of a second goal which arrived five minutes from time. Fresh from the bench, Harder raced through on goal and buried the ball expertly beyond Megan Walsh in the Brighton goal to ensure the three points would be heading back to London.

The hosts proved difficult to break down and created chances of their own going forward, but scoring the first goal was vital for the Blues confidence. The goal came via a set-piece, an area where Green believes we looked particularly threatening.

‘The first goal in a game like that is always crucial and this game was no different. I felt we had a few opportunities we didn’t take before the goal. I thought we were dangerous on our set plays every time. Niamh Charles seemed to be free on her own which is something the coaching staff spoke about at half-time.

‘Sure enough the first one we got second half she was free again, got a good contact on the ball and Beth’s followed up after it’s come off the bar or cleared on the line, Beth’s followed up to make it 1-0 and give us that all important crucial goal.’

We held a slender one-goal lead going into the latter stages of the match and when Harder sealed the victory with five minutes remaining, Green hinted at a collective sigh of relief which came with the second goal.

‘The game was getting a bit stretched and it was a bit transitional. We didn’t have perhaps the control that we wanted so that second goal from Pernille from an acute angle was great. I’m not sure how she managed to get it in from there, but that killed the game and settled everybody’s nerves.

‘Ultimately, it’s job done. To come to a difficult place where Brighton always raise their game to play us, sometimes more than the others it seems, but we’ve got the win and we’re really pleased with that.’

There was a time before kick-off where the game could have fallen foul to the weather conditions which battered Broadfield Stadium in the build-up. With respect for the officials' decision, Green was pleased to emerge with the victory in spite of the elements.

‘It was touch and go to be honest, when the referee had a look at it but ultimately it’s her call. She decided it was playable and we’ve got to respect that. As you could see there was water on the pitch and fortunately it didn’t start heavy raining until the latter part of the game which was helpful.

‘It was certainly touch and go but we’ve all got to respect the referee’s decision. We got the game played and we’ve come out with the three points.’

To combat a busy fixture schedule, the Blues made use of the abundance of talent and depth within the squad by making seven changes for the trip to Brighton. Green praised the players coming into the starting 11 who contributed to clinching the desired result.

‘There are so many games in quick succession that you’ve got to rotate at some time. We didn’t get back from Paris until half five, six o’clock on Friday morning so we’d got one day training. The quality in our squad, everybody is capable of playing, they’re all senior internationals.

'Yes we made quite a lot of changes from midweek, not so many from last Sunday if you compare those line-ups, but ultimately it was down to who was feeling fit and fresh. We’ve got to make those changes and I thought the players coming in did well tonight and have come out with the result we wanted.’

There was individual praise for England, scorer of the all-important first goal which set Chelsea on our way just before the hour mark, but Green is not surprised at what he is seeing considering the quality of players within the squad.

‘She took her goal well when it came down, she was in the right place at the right time. It’s very good for her to get off the mark this season. Overall, we were pleased with her as we were with quite a lot of the other players coming into the starting team, to be honest. That’s not a surprise, they’re all senior internationals and it shows the quality of squad we’ve got which is going to be important because it’s a long season.’

The Blues face another quick turnaround with Vllaznia up next in the UEFA Women’s Champions League at Kingsmeadow on Wednesday. Green has called on the team to keep our good run of form going in the face of an unknown quantity.

‘We’ve got to try and keep that momentum going and keep rolling out the wins, but each game is different. We now look ahead to Vllaznia, a new team we’ve never played before, first time in the Champions League.

‘We don’t know that much about them so we’re getting up to speed with that, looking at the videos and making sure that we’re going to be ready for Wednesday at Kingsmeadow. We hope to follow up our fantastic start to the group stage in Paris last week. You’ve got to now follow that up with a home victory against Vllaznia.’