Chelsea manager Emma Hayes praised her squad's performance as they racked up an 8-0 aggregate win over Benfica to reach the last 16 of the Women's Champions League - and says that triumphs like that are the reason she continues to attract top talent to Kingsmeadow.
It was a very different Blues side taking on the Portuguese visitors on Wednesday night, with eight changes to their starting line-up compared to the team that faced Brighton in the Women's Super League at the weekend.
That included starts for youngsters Niamh Charles, who signed from relegated Liverpool over the summer, and Jessie Fleming, the Canadian international who headed to England after completing her college education in the USA.
Sam Kerr grabbed her first Champions League goal and Bethany England scored a brace to make it what the boss described as "a perfect night".
"You ask for your perfect night, you ask for your strikers to score, a clean sheet, no suspensions or yellow cards - well, I got what I wanted," Hayes told the club's official website.
She added: "You’ve got to look at our schedule from January onwards and if you know what it is, you’ll know why I have this depth. This is the first half of the season and it’s been the easiest first half of the season that I’ve ever known it but that means all the games will start to come thick and fast.
"If we make the latter stages of the Champions League then we’ve got league fixtures that have to be re-scheduled within that.
"I plan on playing a game every four days, all the way through till the end of May other than a couple of weekends plus the international games.
"We have this depth because we absolutely need it. It’s critical."
Chelsea face Tottenham Hotspur in the Women's Super League on Sunday (kick-off 2pm).
