Sheffield United manager Carla Ward believes her side’s performance against Manchester City in the Continental Cup quarter-final this week showed that they are capable of playing in the FA WSL.

The Blades lost the game 4-0 to a strong Man City side that include Ellen White, Steph Houghton and Pauline Bremer who scored a hat-trick for the visitors.

Ward’s side currently sit second in the FA Women’s Championship, six points behind leaders Aston Villa who occupy the division’s only promotion place.

United’s 1-0 defeat to Villa last Sunday means they face an uphill battle to overcome the six-point deficit with just eight games of the season remaining.

View on Quarter-final defeat

Speaking to the media after the game Ward said there are a lot of lessons to be learned from the City game:

“There’s more positives to take from tonight than there was from Sunday.

“I think we’ve defended well. We’ve been organised, we’ve been disciplined and they’ve stuck together when the goings got tough and they’ve had to dig in whereas we haven’t had to do that all season so that’s positive.

“I think the girls will learn a lot. It was a good experience, especially for the younger ones because there was a number of 17 and 18-year-olds out there tonight. “

Testing themselves against WSL sides

Wednesday’s defeat wasn’t the first time the Championship side had impressed against a WSL outfit. In the group stages of the Continental Cup the Blades beat Liverpool, who currently sit bottom of the top tier, away from home.

Ward said their performance at Prenton Park was further evidence they are ready for the WSL:

“The top three [of the WSL] compared to even the bottom end of the WSL is a massive gulf, never mind the Championship.

“We went to Liverpool and we turned them over on their patch. People will say it’s a tight game 3-2 but if you were there and you watched it, I think you’d agree we were far better team and I think we showed we can compete in the WSL.”

Sheffield United will have another chance to test themselves against WSL opposition at the end of January when they take on Birmingham City in the fifth round of the FA Women’s Cup – a game in which Ward feels her side will have more of a licence to attack.

She said: “I fancy us to get at Birmingham. I don’t think you can get at City without them tearing you apart to be honest.”