The lure of consistently challenging for trophies is what drew Melissa Lawley to Manchester City – and now she is just two matches away from winning the SSE Women’s FA Cup for a second time.
Nick Cushing’s side face FA WSL 1 table-toppers Chelsea in the semi-finals on Sunday.
Lawley joined City from Birmingham in December 2016 and helped the Citizens to Wembley glory last May, scoring the winner over Liverpool in the semi-final.
And she has designs on retaining the trophy.
Lawley said: “For me personally, when I moved to Manchester City this is exactly what I wanted.
“I knew City had a great squad and I knew we’d be competing against the top teams both at home and in Europe.
“This is where you want to be; in semi-finals, and hopefully Finals.
“The semi-final of The FA Cup is always a massive game and our opposition makes it even bigger.
“Whenever we come up against Chelsea it’s always a good game. It’s always close so I think it’s going to be about which team performs the best on the day. We really want to get to the Final, though, so we’re going to give it our all.”
Chelsea and Manchester City have set the pace in the league and occupy the top two spots coming into the business end of the season.
They are also in the semi-finals of the Champions League – City face holders Lyon while Emma Hayes’s side will take on Wolfsburg.
The Citizens have excelled in the cup competitions this season and reached the final of the Continental Tyres Cup last month, losing to Arsenal by a single goal.
That defeat, and recent losses to Birmingham and Reading, have focused City minds.
Lawley said: “We lost a couple of times in the league which was disappointing, but we’re looking at those matches as motivation.
“We remember the feeling after those matches and we don’t want it to happen again.
“We were also disappointed to lose to Arsenal in the Conti Cup Final a few weeks ago, but that just gives us even more motivation.”
Everton entertain Arsenal in the other semi-final, with both ties being broadcast live by the BBC.
This season’s Final will be staged at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 5 May.
Tickets are already on sale, priced £15 for adults while kids go FREE!
