'They're here because they want these challenges'

It wasn't too long ago that Joe Montemurro was the only Australian in our setup.

But fast forward to this summer and he's been joined by Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Lydia Williams.

So just how well equipped are they for the tough tests ahead?

"They are obviously here because they want these challenges," he said. "They want these big challenges of knockout tournament Champions League, FA Cup finals, so on and so on.

"To them this is quite new because obviously in the US they don’t play many knockout cup competitions, tournaments of a Champions League style. I think they're embracing it, they're embracing it with an opportunity for them to learn, with an opportunity for them to grow as professional players because it's new to them.

"The team as a whole, we're doing a lot of work in understanding what pressure moments are, what they mean and these situations because we all know that one off games are moments, they are one off situations, and every moment is an important one and every moment matters.

"We're making sure that we put that familiarity and training, we put that familiarity into what to expect in every session that we do so that things don’t become a surprise to them, that they know what to expect and hopefully it will come to fruition on game day."