Reading manager Kelly Chambers has urged her side to leave everything out on the pitch as her side prepare to face Chelsea on Saturday.

Last weekend’s defeat against Tottenham left Reading on the cusp of relegation, but after Leicester’s defeat against West Ham, the Royals still have an opportunity to stay in the WSL.

“We saw the Tottenham game as an opportunity missed, especially after the Leicester result on Sunday.

“As tough as the challenge is ahead of us, it’s a game of football and we need to prepare well and need to do everything we can.

“Training has been really good this week in terms of energy and our tactical work.

“As much as it is to be in a hard position now, the girls have really attacked the week in a positive mindset to try and do everything they can for the weekend.”

Chambers know her side will have to be at their very best as they prepare to take on the champions elect.

In their last five WSL games, the Blues have scored 21 goals and only conceded once, making the task a pretty daunting one for Reading.

However, Chambers’ side did defeat Chelsea on home soil last season, and while the odds are stacked against them, as long as they work hard, anything is possible according to the manager.

“We need to make sure that we’re defensively organised. We need to try and make it as difficult as possible for Chelsea.

“We can’t hide from the results and the performances they’ve had in their last four games. We know it’ll be a tough test, but the girls have worked hard, and we need to make sure we leave everything out there.

“We haven’t got time for people to be jogging around the pitch, or not giving 100% effort. We need everyone to step up and we can’t walk off the pitch like we did on Saturday, thinking we could have given more.

“If we do all that and lose to the better team on the day, then we can hold our hands up, but we can’t let it be down to ourselves again.”

Finding your own motivation

With Reading being on a run of five games without a point, it would be easy for the players to lose confidence.

However, heading into the big decider on Saturday, Chambers has challenged her side to find their own motivation, in order to keep Reading in England’s premier competition.

“For me, if you’re a competitor and you want to be in elite sport you have to find your own motivation.

“I don’t think there’s much that I should have to do. There’s finding motivation, there’s doing the detail that we do in the week, but ultimately, it’s about delivering on the day, and that’s what we need to do.

“You need to find that motivation, you need to deliver, you need to dig deep, and the players would probably agree that we didn’t do that last weekend.

“So, we need to make sure we leave everything out there.”

Bright spots this season

For all the doom and gloom around the Select Car Leasing Stadium, there have been some positives for the Berkshire club.

Chambers was keen to highlight the continued development of players, along with closer alignment between all levels at the club.

“It’s not just been negatives on the pitch. We’ve had tough times off it too. But we have had good moments in the season that we can be positive about.

“We’ve seen the development of some of the younger players coming through with Maddie Perry, one of our young players who has come through the ranks, that’s something we’ve always been proud of.

“If you look back through recent seasons, you have Emma Harries, Bethan Roberts, Grace Moloney, we’re very proud of them all and it shows our pathway is still working and developing.

“The football side of things has been hard, but in terms of the group, the facilities, building relationships with the men’s first team, the fan attendance, it’s been good to grow in those aspects this season.”