Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor has insisted that her side still have ‘a lot of work’ to do to regain the Barclays Women’s Super League title even after victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

After the vital victory for her Chelsea charges against the reigning WSL champions Manchester City, Sonia Bompastor spoke to the media and The Halfway Line was present to hear from her.

Bompastor confirms Buchanan was carrying a ‘knock’

One of the main talking points on Saturday was the substitution of Kadeisha Buchanan, who was withdrawn after just twelve minutes against Manchester City. The reason for her substitution was not immediately clear to those watching on, Bompastor was asked for clarity on the decision,

“Yesterday in training she [Kadeisha Buchanan] got a knock in her head in contact with a teammate” Bompastor explained. “She was fine after the training session, she was fine in the evening. We assessed her again this morning, and everything was fine.

“Just like I have this information on what happened yesterday, I just started watching her from the beginning of the game. She was not herself and I took the responsibility to make the substitution but for me, I was almost forced to do that because I know my player, and I know she was not in the game.”

Bompastor elaborated further on the unusual nature of the substitutions, with three coming before the second half kicked off,

“It paid off today but again, I think coming into City on the back of frustrating results wasn’t so easy, even if we were playing at home. [So] having to make two substitutions in the first half with also Melvine [Malard], where I was forced to do that because she felt her hamstring, it’s never a good sign.

“So I think the character the team showed today was really good, and credit to all my players on the performance and the character they showed today, especially against the top side.”

And as for the substitution of goal scorer Sandy Baltimore at half time?

“[We made the substitution] more because we knew going into the second half we only had one [substitution] slot, and we knew Sandy [Baltimore] has been playing a lot of minutes for her” Bompastor said. “So probably she didn’t have in this game the legs to go for more than 60, and if I had to use the last slot on 60 minutes, I could have stayed with 30 minutes and no slots.

“So that’s why I was forced also almost to make this one. It paid off, but again, yes, Sandy was doing well. She knows, I spoke to her at half time, and she knows the reason why we made that decision. It paid off, so it’s good but again, I think that’s the first time I have experienced that many substitutions, first half substitutions so it’s good for my own experience as well.”

Sonia Bompastor admits there is ‘work to be done’ in the title race

After victory at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have now beaten each of the rest of the traditional top four sides by an aggregate score of 7-0. Bompastor was asked just how vital those results are,

“Yeah, no, it’s important in terms of the psychological aspects” said the Chelsea head coach. “But also right now we are a team who are dropping points against other opponents, so I would be more pleased if we were able to win every single game, top teams, and maybe the teams we don’t expect at the top.

“So yes, it’s really good, and it’s a nice feeling to be at the top of the table right now, to be able to have won the games against these top sides, but I know we still have a lot of work to be done, and it’s early on the season, so many things can happen.”