Gemma Davies has stressed it is important Aston Villa 'don't get ahead of ourselves' after watching them put nine goals past Coventry United on Tuesday evening.
The 9-0 FA Women's Continental League Cup success is the latest chapter in Villa's upturn in form, which has seen them win three straight games in all competitions without conceding a goal.
This result follows 1-0 and 2-0 victories over Sheffield United and Brighton & Hove Albion, respectively.
Davies, as expected, was grounded in her assessment of how Tuesday's game was won.
“I think it was a clean, professional performance" said the Head Coach.
"And, more importantly, another clean sheet, which is exceptionally important for us right now."
Despite the difficulties that inevitably come with having extended time off, Davies firmly believes her group of players benefited from it and recent results hae reflected that view.
“We had five weeks with a bit of an unexpected break and we used that time wisely" professed Davies.
"That clicked for us at Brighton and football is about building momentum."
Tuesday night posed as an opportunity for several players to stake a claim for a starting position in the upcoming Second City derby, and one player who must be at the forefront of Davies' mind is Nadine Hanssen.
The Dutch midfielder marked her return to the starting XI with a 21-minute first-half hat-trick, and her Coach was full of praise for the performance as a whole.
“Nads was phenomenal today" beamed Davies.
"I thought she had a very, very good 90 minutes - not only because of the goals that she scored, but for the passages of play that she contributed to."
Another player who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck was Shania Hayles.
After being brought on just after the hour-mark, Hayles was as hungry as anyone to get herself off the mark for the season, and ended up with a quickfire brace to show for it.
“Shania again is building in confidence week by week"
"She had a very good game at Brighton and to come on today and score two further goals can only help her."
While it's only natural to look ahead to a key fixture on Saturday, the boss was keen to leave a parting message on Tuesday night:
“We're excited for the first Second City Derby in the Super League, but it's important that we don't get ahead of ourselves.”
