Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp: ‘I know on my day I can be unstoppable’

L auren Hemp believes Manchester City have transformed since the turn of the year and Sunday’s visit of Chelsea to the Academy Stadium offers the chance to show the progress made since back-to-back defeats at the start of the season which have seen City fly under the radar in the Women’s Super League title race.

“You’ve seen a different side to Man City, too,” the forward says. “A more dominating side. We’ve beaten Arsenal, which shows that we are capable of [beating the top teams] and it’s important that we carry that on. It did take a little while for those coming in to get used to everyone, to get used to the style of play, to find different connections and work well together. That has grown over the season. And it’s a perfect time for it to now be working, coming towards the end of the season where the trophies are up for grabs.”

Six months on from that faltering start, only the WSL leaders and title holders, Chelsea, have had a better run in the league and a win will move City above their longtime rivals for the first time this season.

“At the start of the season, some people did write us off,” says Hemp. “That’s only natural considering we did lose a couple of games, and we weren’t quite at it towards the start of the season. But with the number of signings we made and the new people coming in and leaving the club, it was only natural that was going to happen.”

There is only one trophy left for City to win, with last Sunday’s defeat to Aston Villa seeing them exit the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage. In many respects, having only one chance at silverware is frustrating, but City’s calendar is now clear to focus on the title race.

Their game against Chelsea is sandwiched between the London club’s two Champions