Smerud: We played with our hearts on our sleeves

In what was just Smerud’s second game in charge, Palace – up against an opponent who are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season, and dominant in the Women’s Super League – were in the running for long stretches at Kingsmeadow, despite being without a number of key players.

In the end, Lauren James’ well-taken finish midway through the second-half saw Palace bow out of the quarter-final tie, having reached that stage for the first time in their history.

Smerud told Palace TV: “I think we played with our hearts on our sleeve. I think we're in a quite difficult situation, challenging when it comes to injuries, and everyone who got the chance today, even out of position, even without having much training in the rucksack, they gave everything.

“We played a really good team and to give it and make it a real fight, that was good to see and it makes me proud – and it makes me believe in what's going to happen next.

“I think I learned a lot today about the fight in the team. We got to work on our shape – we had to do a lot of defensive work today and we were good in many of the phases.

“We need to improve in a few, we need to get people compact and ready to go again, and hopefully some more can also join in, and then we can look forward to a very interesting game next Sunday against Aston Villa.”

On the club reaching the quarter-finals for the first time, Smerud reflected: “It's a good thing, breaking barriers.

“I hope we can break more going forward and this is what we want: we want to challenge ourselves, playing against the best teams and going as far as we can in every competition.

“I think from that, we should just be proud, and know that next year it's possible to maybe take it one step more or maybe two, so that's what we should aim for.”