Chelsea midfielder Katie Chapman is determined to continue her FA Women’s Cup success story with the Blues but she’s warned her new-look side will take time to hit their straps.
Following a disappointing seventh-place finish in the WSL last season, Chelsea have been busy recruiting in the off-season with Chapman and defender Gilly Flaherty moving from Arsenal.
Recent signing Christiane Endler was the seventh new arrival at the club, joining the likes of Swedish defender Emma Wilhelmsson, South Korea international Ji So-Yun and England duo Rachel Williams and Laura Bassett.
Chelsea v Bristol Academy
The FA Women's Cup
Fifth Round
2.07pm, Sunday 13 April
Staines Town FC
But Chapman is quick to temper expectation ahead of Chelsea’s Cup clash with Bristol Academy on Sunday – the team her former club defeated in last season’s Final.
She said: "We're just going to take every game as it comes.
"We've got a lot of new signings coming into Chelsea so the team is going to gel together and work, so we will just take it step-by-step.
"It will be a really tough game to start off with. It will be interesting to get playing and see how we fare but it will be tough.
"Bristol are a very physical side, it's always a tough game against them, even when I was at Arsenal. It's going to be different but we will see how we get on, hopefully it's a win.
"I'm really excited for the new season, it has been a long time off and I don't actually like having so much time off because you can't wait for it to start again."
For Bristol, meanwhile, last season was case of what-ifs – not only did they lose The FA Women’s Cup Final to Arsenal 3-0, they were runners up in The FA WSL.
Captain Corinne Yorston is determined to set the record straight this time around and she believes the arrival of new boss Dave Edmondson is just the boost they need.
"We've got ambitions to win things this season and over the next few years. We were so close last year and were so disappointed finishing second," she said.
"It was obviously a good season to come second in the league and get to The FA Cup Final, but now we want to push on and win things.
"We've got a new manager in and he's been stamping his authority on how he wants us to play. Now's the time we want to kick on and start putting it on show.
"Dave [Edmondson] has been analysing Chelsea and we've been doing bits and pieces [to prepare] but we don't really focus in on one game as such.
"We've really just been trying to understand how he wants us to play, his philosophies and his tactics for the team."
