Gilly Flaherty says Arsenal Ladies are determined to end the first half of the Women's Super League season with victory against Chelsea on Thursday evening.
The Ladies host their London rivals at Meadow Park in the final game before embarking on a two-month summer break.
A spate of postponements, progress in cup competitions and an early defeat against Liverpool mean Arsenal go into the game in sixth position in the table. Now Flaherty is urging her team-mates to pick up three points to stay in touch with early pacesetters Liverpool and Bristol Academy.
"It's been a transitional period for the Club. We'll only have played four league games by the time of the break. Some teams have played a lot more"
"Every game that we'll play until the end of the season will be a cup final now," she told Arsenal.com.
"I don't really look to who we're playing, I just see it as another chance for us to get three points on the board. We know that Chelsea have strengthened and we know how good [Chelsea coach] Emma Hayes is from her time at Arsenal. They've got a good set-up and they've started well. It's a game that we need to get three points from.
"We were gutted to go out of the Champions League but we bounced back well in the domestic cups. Then we lost to Liverpool at Emirates and drew to Lincoln but won the FA Cup final. It's been a rollercoaster.
"Our results are picking up again now. We've had a lot of changes. It's been a transitional period for the Club. We'll only have played four league games by the time of the break. Some teams have played a lot more.
"When we get back after the break, we have to fit 10 games in, which can be a bit frustrating because we don't want it to stop now. We want to keep going.
"But we have to consider that we were in Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals which the other teams weren't. I don't think we'd be complaining if we'd gone all the way in that competition. It's just the way the league is set up and we have to accept that and carry on our good form when we're back."
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