Women's Super League side Brighton and Hove Albion head to St Andrew's this afternoon as they face Championship side Birmingham City in the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup. 

The Blues are just one of two teams outside of the WSL to remain in the competition, with Lewes also in FA Cup action against Manchester United today. 

Having beat WSL side Everton on their way to this stage, Darren Carter will be confident that his side can cause another upset against the Seagulls. 

Amy Merricks took over from Jens Scheuer as Brighton boss on an interims basis a few weeks back, and will be hoping for Cup success to lift spirits at the club. 

She spoke to the media prior to the game today.

  • Aims of improving performance

Elisabeth Terland's equaliser against Manchester City in Brighton's last match wasn't enough to take anything away from game, with Khadija Shaw bagging a brace with seconds remaining to take all three points for the Citizens. 

Merricks was
Merricks was "satisfied" by her sides' performance (Photo by Alex Burstow/Getty Images)

She gave her thoughts on the performance and the outcome of the game:

"We were gutted to concede in the final minutes. I think the performance warranted more.

"We are so satisfied with the performance that the team put on. It will be a real turning point for us. I feel like we have some momentum now, and we're moving in the right direction. We've competed with one of the best in the league, which shows we can compete."

"It will be amazing to get to a semi-final again. There's no doubt it's going to be a challenging game. They have a good side. 

"But we want to go as far as we can."

Having lost to Birmingham earlier on in the season in the League Cup, Merricks is looking to get one over their oppenents this afternoon. 

"It's all about pushing the bar higher. We've got a point to prove.

"Just getting over the line and putting in another good performance will mean a lot going forward."

"We want there to be that dilemma of who do we start, whatever team we put out will be ready to perform to try and get into a semi-final.

"I think we started too slowly in the first half, which means it's a real struggle to get back into it."

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