Mary Earps has warned Manchester United's rivals that once the fine details start clicking for their side they will be competing for the title.
Casey Stoney's side sit fourth in the WSL and host second place Chelsea at Leigh Sports Village this weekend. A win would see Emma Hayes's side keep pressure on league leaders Manchester City while United are trying to close the gap on third-placed Arsenal.
While United have impressed in their maiden WSL campaign they have yet to beat the league's top three in the league - losing by a single goal each time.
It was a single Chelsea goal that knocked United out of the Continental Cup last week and Earps said that the team's performances against the top sides give them confidence going into Sunday's game.
"We should take real confidence from our performances against Chelsea this season because the games have been really tight," Earps told the MEN.
"We are the underdogs, we are not expected to win. Chelsea are expected to win. We know we are more than capable of getting a result and we just have to go out there and perform."
As the season heads into its final few months a gap is emerging between the top three and the rest of the league, albeit United have two games in hand on third-placed Arsenal. But Earps believes that gap will become smaller once United fine tune their play in both boxes.
"I think it’s fine margins now, it’s hard to put your finger on really, centimetres, inches, milliseconds those all add up and really make a difference at elite level and that’s what we’re competing at now," Earps said about how United can push into the top three.
"We’re not looking to compete to scrap for relegation. We want to compete for trophies and get Champions League over the next couple of years and then go on and win that.
"We have to take it game by game and focus on our detail. Both boxes are key, we have to be really ruthless defensive and attacking wise. When you play the great teams chances don’t come twice. If you don’t defend properly you’re punished and you learn really hash lessons really quickly in football. Equally going forward you might not get a plethora of chances so you have to take the few that come."
