Hemp: Progression the most important outcome | OneFootball

Lauren Hemp says the most important outcome of our FA Cup clash with Birmingham was progression into the semi-finals - regardless of how it was achieved.

Match Report

City edge past Birmingham into FA Cup semis

Andrée Jeglertz’s side sealed our place in the last four of the historic competition with a hard-fought 1-0 win over the WSL 2 leaders thanks to Bunny Shaw’s eighth-minute strike.

Following the Jamaican’s well-taken opener, the quarter-final tie was evenly contested at St Andrew’s throughout which saw the visitors hit the woodwork three times.

It means City will travel to Chelsea in May for a place in Wembley’s showpiece after battling to beat Birmingham.

And at the business end of the season, Hemp believes results are all that matter when it comes to pursuing trophies.

“The most important thing is getting the job done and getting through to the next round - whether it’s pretty or not,” she declared.

“One week, we’ll play fantastic football and the next we might be struggling a bit. But we’ve got a great togetherness in this squad and we stick together.

“We go away now on international duty and then get back to the action again so it’s important we keep pushing and we’ve got a great group who can surely get the job done.

“It was a difficult one, Birmingham brought so many threats. They were aggressive, but we controlled the game, especially at the start.

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“After the goal we let them get momentum and they created some good chances, but at the end of the day we’re now in a semi-final and it’s exciting.

“We’re up against Chelsea, the reigning FA Cup champions, and to be the best you’ve got the beat the best and I’m at the club to win trophies so hopefully that comes soon.”

City’s victory over Birmingham was our final assignment ahead of April’s international break.

When Jeglertz’s team return from the pause in domestic action we’ll be competing on two fronts in both the Barclays Women’s Super League and FA Cup.

The Blues know collecting five points from our remaining three top-flight matches will seal the title, meanwhile, we’re two wins from glory in the prestigious tournament.

And Hemp is eyeing silverware before the curtain falls on the campaign.

She added: “I’m at this club because I want to win trophies and we haven’t won many recently, so that is the dream.

“As a team, I know we’re capable of winning trophies, we just need to show that in the most important times.

“It’s an exciting couple of months ahead.”