Beard: Let's extend our lead

Kick-off is at 7.15pm BST and admission is just £5 for adults and £2.50 for children, and the Ladies welcome your support.

After last weekend's dramatic 4-3 victory at Bristol allowed Liverpool to regain their lead at the top on goal difference, the Ladies now have a great chance to strengthen their position.

Bristol are without a game for a few weeks, while reigning champions Arsenal still carry a real threat with two games in hand, so the visit of Beard's former club Chelsea is another must-win clash for the Ladies.

Ahead of Saturday's match, Ladies manager Beard told Liverpoolfc.com why his team are aiming high in their remaining six fixtures of the season.

Watch the video here »

Reflecting on the dramatic 4-3 win away at Bristol last Saturday, after the week you had with two defeats and then going 1-0 down, what was your assessment?

We spoke a lot in our pre-match meeting in the hotel on Saturday night about bouncing back and showing good character. We have had a good first part of the season and we then lost to Arsenal and also lost on penalties to Lincoln in the cup. We had 36 shots at goal but the Lincoln goalkeeper was in top form, so we told the players just to stay positive. Bristol was a must-win game for us because if we had lost it or dropped points we would have been three or six points behind them. The players knew the importance of it and, to be fair to them, the way the game panned out we showed so much character throughout the 90 minutes. We were 1-0 down then 3-1 up, only to be pegged back to 3-3 before we won it. It was a rollercoaster night, not good for my blood pressure but it was a great advert for how the women's game has progressed in this country. Anyone watching that game would have enjoyed it and we had Robbie Fowler tweeting throughout the game as well. It was a fantastic performance and I was delighted with the response.

What does the victory so late on tell us about the resilience and fighting spirit of your team?

Considering we had played 120 minutes two days before, it shows that their fitness levels are good. Bristol had a week to prepare for the game with no midweek match and that was our third game in seven days. It just shows the character we have got inside the group. I've always said, mentally they are a strong group. Against Bristol we were in complete control of the game until the two sloppy goals we conceded to make it 3-3. They showed fantastic character and we kept playing and we kept doing the right things. We've got plenty of people who can score goals in this team, which is the most pleasing thing, but they are great characters - every single one of them.

Katrin Omarsdottir's goal - one of the best this season in the Super League?

Probably, maybe even definitely! It was great vision from Fara Williams to play the ball across to Katrin and it was a fantastic strike. No goalkeeper, whether it be a man or woman, would have saved that.

Your captain Gemma Bonner came up with the winner four minutes from time - again another superb strike...

Gemma does that in training a lot and if anyone deserved a goal she did. On the night she was outstanding and her defending was different class. She deserved that goal and it was a fantastic strike.

Your old club Chelsea visit the Halton Stadium on Saturday night - what sort of test will they pose?

It's going to be a tough game. I watched them last Sunday and they have got some world-class players in their team. They move the ball similarly to us and they are a good side. Chelsea and Arsenal are the only two teams that have beaten us in the Super League this season, so we are not going to take anything for granted. We've got six more cup finals left now if we want to win this division.

Chelsea beat you 2-1 in London, in what was a close and tight affair. Are you expecting something similar on Saturday?

Potentially yes, but in that game we just didn't take our chances in the first 25 minutes. That gave them confidence and they went on to win the game, but it quite easily could have gone the other way. We went back there the week after in the Continental Cup and beat them 4-0 and it could have been about eight. If we create our chances we have got to take them, and that will be the key on Saturday.

For the win at Bristol you made a big decision when you brought back Sarah Quantrill in goal in place of Rachel Laws. Tell us the thinking behind that...

It was a tough decision. Rachel had done well but Sarah, apart from the goal-kick which led to a goal, put in a good performance. She swept up well and made some good saves. It was a difficult decision but it just came down to Rachel made a mistake against Lincoln when she gifted them the goal and I felt I needed to make a change.

How different are Chelsea to the team that you managed?

They have made lots of changes. On their teamsheet there will probably only be four to five players from when I was there. We did our transfer business early and Chelsea did it late and I think you can see that from their performances. There are no easy games anymore in the Women's Super League.

Six games to go, you lead Bristol on goal difference but Arsenal have two games in hand and would overtake you if they won them - the title race appears to be going right to the wire...

I think it will go to the last game of the season. We play Bristol at home in our final game. When I took over and built this squad the ambition was to finish in the top four. With the start we had, that gave us an opportunity to re-evaluate our targets and now it is to be challenging for the title and worse case is second spot - which guarantees us Champions League football next season. Bristol have a really tough run-in with a lot of games away from home. They also have a three-week break now so it's important for ourselves to go further in front at the top. That just shows you the importance of Saturday's win. With Arsenal, they are in good form at the moment but again they have a tough run-in with a lot of games in quick succession because they are playing catch-up. We are relying on other teams to do us a favour but we just have to make sure we win our games to give us that best possible chance of lifting a trophy at the end of the season.

Click here for the latest news about the Liverpool Ladies, or visit their official website.