Blackburn Rovers will lead an early celebration on Sunday ahead of their Sixth Round FA Cup match, when they are presented with the FA Women's Cup after being named 'Team of the Round' for their Fifth Round efforts.
Rovers booked their place in the last eight of the competition thanks to Katie Anderson's hat-trick in the 3-0 victory against Chelsea. They will now play host to National Division rivals Leeds United in the quarter finals of the cup.
Club manager Adam Lakeland said: "The FA Cup is a prestigious competition in which all clubs, players, managers and supporters love to be involved in, and for us to be in the last eight of the competition is a great achievement by our players and staff.
"Nobody us expecting us to win the Cup, or even go into the last four, which suits us as it allows us to play without pressure as the underdogs and I believe thats when my team plays at its best.
"We respect Leeds as we do every team we face, but we certainly don't fear them and with everyone expecting Leeds to win the tie it puts the pressure right on the, and we are confident that we can progress into Monday's draw."
He added: "To be awarded the Team of the Round is something that everyone at the club is very proud of and its nothing more than my team deserves.
"I'm absolutely delighted for my players and its winning awards like this that earns them respect throughout the ladies' game and shows that Blackburn Rovers is a club currently on the up. Hopefully winning this award will give us added incentive to do well against Leeds on Sunday."
Turning to the international scene, Kelly Smith believes England are capable of winning the World Cup following their successful warm-up tournament in China. England lost their opening game against hosts China but then registered two respectable draws against Germany and USA.
Smith said: "I definitely believe we can win the World Cup – we are going there with that mentality. Once you get through the group stage anything can happen, it's a one-off situation.
"We have to prepare the right way and weve been doing that in the build-up to China, playing the best teams in the world. I don't see any reason why we cant go there and win it."
