WOMEN'S WEEKLY

The Ladies tasted defeat for the first time this season on Sunday against a tough Everton side.

But although the Toffees took a 4-0 victory from Imber Court, the final score was not truly reflective of the game which had unfolded in front of the home fans.

Instead, only a few silly mistakes could take the blame for the four-goal deficit, despite possibly one of the weakest performances of the Ladies' season so far.

It seemed as though the occasion of facing last season's giant-killers, who sealed League Cup victory after ending Arsenal's two-year unbeaten run, had caught up with Chelsea and forced a tentative performance from the Ladies.

But now will be the time to really test the Blues and see how the team has gelled since our new arrivals over the summer.

Returning to winning ways after your first defeat is always a harder task than most expect, but with the Blues' unprecedented start to the 2008/09 season, it seems hard to imagine this will be too tough a task.

And Sunday's opponents could be the perfect team to rebuild confidence as Chelsea travel to last season's thorn in the side, Leeds.

It was only a few weeks ago that an extra-time Eniola Aluko strike sealed League Cup progression when we hosted Leeds at Imber Court.

That day saw a hard-fought victory for the Ladies, but the tough test must have been expected after the northerners had expelled us from the competition last season. It was always going to be a fixture in which middle-of-the-table Leeds would be raring to prove themselves.

And now the Ladies do not have the comforts of playing at home, this weekend's game will surely test the team's resilience to the maximum, especially considering Sunday's result.

'Last weekend's defeat was hard,' said Lorrie Fair, Chelsea Ladies' assistant coach.

'We have not played as well as we could since the international break, and it finally caught up with us against Everton.

'They were better than us on Sunday and I am hoping that the loss will act as the spark we need to start playing like we are after the title.

'On one hand our confidence took a hit, but on the other, at least we didn't play our best and get beaten 4-0.

'I know we can give them a better game, and I have belief that our team can make this season the most successful one yet and it starts with Leeds this weekend.

'After that we only have two more games until the Under 20 World Cup in Chile begins, and all games in November will be postponed.

'So it's vital that we make the most out of the three games before the break,' added Fair.

Clare Rafferty, Katie Owen and Danni Buet will all travel overseas to represent England in the World Cup, which begins in November, and there will updates on the Chelsea website to keep True Blues informed of the Ladies' progression while on international duty.

For more information on the Chelsea Ladies or to read the match reports from Sunday's game against Everton, visit the Chelsea Ladies section of the site.