Steven Schumacher claimed the bragging rights over his former employers Plymouth as Stoke eased to a 3-0 win.

Schumacher, who led the Pilgrims to the League One title last season before leaving for the Potters in December, was given a frosty reception by the vocal visitors.

But it was the new Stoke boss who had the last laugh as the hosts did the talking on the pitch thanks to goals from their Dutch trio.

A rapid-fire double from Ki-Jana Hoever and Million Manhoef before the interval helped Schumacher’s side take a big step closer to survival.

And a Wouter Burger strike in stoppage time capped an impressive display as Stoke climb to 17th – six points above the relegation zone with only two fixtures remaining.

Plymouth’s three-match unbeaten start under new interim boss Neil Dewsnip was ended as they now sit four points clear of the drop zone.

Dewsnip, who was Schumacher’s PE teacher, Everton academy coach and director of football at Argyle, had enjoyed a bright run since replacing Ian Foster.

Victories against Rotherham and Leicester had eased fears of an immediate return to the third tier.

However, it was Stoke, with relegation concerns of their own, who raced out of the blocks with Tyrese Campbell and ex-Pilgrim Luke Cundle both going close early on.

Plymouth lynchpin Morgan Whittaker, who was named in the Championship Team of the Season this week, nearly justified why he is catching the attention of many.

His dipping strike from range was tipped over by Daniel Iversen before a threatening free-kick whistled agonisingly wide of the top corner.

The Potters assumed control and almost snatched the advantage, only for Hoever’s venomous effort to cannon off the crossbar.

But the Wolves loanee was not left reeling for too long as he advanced into the box and finished with aplomb for a third goal in five games.

The shaky visitors were pounced upon as Stoke capitalised with a second just four minutes later thanks to Hoever’s compatriot Manhoef.

The January recruit from Vitesse collected the ball on the edge of the box and unleashed a rocket into the bottom corner beyond a helpless Michael Cooper.

Plymouth have never won at Stoke in 20 attempts across their 138-year existence, and Dewsnip attempted to spur a late fightback with a string of changes.

But the fresh legs could not sway the Potters’ momentum as another former Pilgrim Niall Ennis twice came close to adding a third.

That responsibility ultimately fell to substitute Burger, who sealed an important victory deep into stoppage time.

Burnley ran out 4-1 winners at Sheffield United in the battle of the bottom two to throw themselves a Premier League lifeline.

Jacob Bruun Larsen and Lorenz Assignon struck in the space of two minutes and against the run of play at the end of the first half, before the Blades threatened a comeback when Gus Hamer pulled one back early in the second.

But further goals from Lyle Foster and substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson crushed the Blades’ hopes as Burnley maintained their late bid for survival.

Vincent Kompany’s side have now taken 10 points from their last seven matches and climbed to within three points of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who play at relegation rivals Everton on Sunday.

Blades boss Chris Wilder said this week he wanted his side to extend their survival fight for as long as possible and they created the better first-half chances.

Oli McBurnie’s close-range effort was well saved by Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, who rescued his side again when parrying Ben Brereton Diaz’s shot.

McBurnie’s rising drive then drew another save from Muric, but against the run of play, the visitors struck twice in two minutes as the interval approached to stun Bramall Lane.

Wilson Odobert’s weaving run to the edge of the area had the Blades back-pedalling and when his blocked shot rebounded to Bruun Larsen, the latter’s low scuffed effort deflected off Jayden Bogle and span inside the near post.

Blades goalkeeper Ivo Grbic had been caught off balance by the ricochet and he was left flat-footed again two minutes later.

Assignon darted in between Ben Osborn and Brereton Diaz on the right edge of the area and his toe-poked shot went through Auston Trusty’s legs and flew high into the net off Grbic’s out-stretched boot for his first Burnley goal.

The Blades went close to reducing their two-goal deficit at the start of the second period when James McAtee’s goalbound shot was brilliantly saved by Muric and the hosts were back in it in the 52nd minute.

Hamer cut inside Assignon on the left edge of the area and curled a superb right-footed finish inside the far post.

Muric denied Brereton Diaz an equaliser with another top-class save before the home side’s fightback hopes were dealt a mighty blow.

Assignon marauded down the right and picked out Foster with a low ball into the box and the striker made no mistake from six yards.

McBurnie fired narrowly wide as the Blades continued to press forward, but they were stung again in the 71st minute when Gudmundsson curled home a fine finish less than a minute after stepping off the bench to replace Vitinho.

Gudmundsson then rattled a post and with Blades fans leaving in their hordes, the Clarets comfortably saw out just their second win of the year.

Derby moved to the brink of promotion to the Championship after a 1-0 win at Cambridge.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s goal shortly before half-time leaves Paul Warne’s side needing one point at home to bottom club Carlisle next weekend to go up.

Cambridge will be safe if they win either of their two remaining games, or if Cheltenham fail to win both of theirs.

U’s keeper Will Mannion tipped Louie Sibley’s corner onto the bar early on, while at the other end Joe Wildsmith saved well from Macauley Bonne in the 15th minute.

Mendez-Laing nearly scored in spectacular style after 38 minutes, seeing his superb curler from nearly 30 yards come back off the bar, but he only had to wait a few seconds before putting the Rams ahead.

Sibley played Mendez-Laing in behind the defence, and he rounded keeper Mannion outside the box before firing into an empty net.

Cambridge came on strong after the break, with Jordan Cousins firing just wide from distance and Ryan Bennett seeing a shot blocked.

Lincoln moved into the play-off places with a 2-1 win at Cheltenham, whose League One future is now hanging by a thread.

The Imps have been resurgent under boss Michael Skubala, but they had to come from behind to take the points.

Cheltenham led through Liam Sercombe’s early penalty, but Joe Taylor levelled before half-time and Freddie Draper won it seven minutes after the break.

A midweek win at Burton had kept Cheltenham’s survival hopes alive and their chances of avoiding the drop improved when Jordan Thomas was tripped by Danny Mandroiu in the box. Sercombe stepped up to fire home from the spot in the 15th minute for his 11th goal of the season.

Lincoln responded well and Taylor’s superb run down the left was eventually stopped in the box, but the ball found its way back to him and he applied a clinical finish in the 40th minute for his 22nd goal of the campaign.

Luke Southwood saved from Alex Mitchell early in the second half and also kept out an effort from Ben House, but he could do nothing to prevent Draper from scoring with a low finish in the 52nd minute.

James Olayinka saw a late effort blocked for Cheltenham and their defeat left them five points from safety with two games to play.

Norwich took another tentative step towards the Championship play-offs as they came from behind to pick up a hard-fought point in a 1-1 draw with Bristol City.

The Canaries failed to make it nine straight home wins at Carrow Road but the draw took them level with fifth-placed West Brom and kept them six points clear of the chasing pack with games running out.

The in-form Robins created plenty of chances and deservedly took the lead early in the second half when Haydon Roberts finished off a slick move to score his first goal for the club.

But Norwich showed what they were made of by equalising from their next attack, Borja Sainz tapping the ball home after being set up for the easiest of chances by the Canaries’ top scorer Josh Sargent.

Both sides had their chances in an entertaining first half, with the visitors wasting the best of them after just 13 minutes.

Mark Sykes found himself with a clear run on goal after being fed by Scott Twine but, despite having plenty of time to assess his options, he was well off target as he clipped the ball over the advancing Angus Gunn.

Twine also hit the crossbar with a deflected free-kick as the Robins gave as good as they got, while at the other end Sargent saw an early shot come back off the woodwork after being picked out on the edge of the box by Sainz.

The Canaries almost took the lead in unlikely fashion two minutes after the restart when a low Marcelino Nunez corner ran along the line, with no-one in a yellow shirt able to get a touch.

But it was the visitors who took the lead on 56 minutes after putting together a slick move on the left. It started with Tommy Conway finding the overlapping Cameron Pring in space and ended with Roberts sweeping home in emphatic fashion.

Norwich found the perfect response however, equalising within a couple of minutes as a ball through the middle caught out the Robins’ defence, allowing Sargent to square for Sainz, who managed to stay onside to apply the simplest of finishes.

As the game opened up it took a superb reaction stop from Max O’Leary to keep out a stinging drive from the recently introduced Jon Rowe while Gunn had to be at his best to foil Anis Mehmeti when the ball broke kindly for the Robins’ substitute.

But both defences held firm as the game ended all square, a fair result for both teams.

Leicester manager Enzo Maresca hailed Hamza Choudhury’s defensive heroics after his side beat West Brom 2-1 at the King Power Stadium to edge closer to promotion.

Maresca’s side moved back to the top of the Championship with goals from Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy, who missed a penalty in the first half.

Albion dominated the game but  midfielder Hamza Choudhury was the Foxes’ hero clearing off the line three times.

The visitors could only find the net once when captain Jed Wallace reduced the two-goal deficit for Carlos Corberan’s side with 14 minutes left.

Leicester were helped hugely by Choudhury’s inspired last-ditch defending and Maresca hailed his man-of-the-match performance.

Maresca said: “I’ve never seen three goal-line clearances from one player. He played as a goalkeeper at times.

“Hamza is probably the only guy whose contract we renewed this season. We made him one of the captains. With us, on the pitch and off the pitch, he has always been very good.

Maresca celebrated with his players at the final whistle, but says he knows the job is far from done.

The Italian coach said: “It was a crazy game. We need still two wins, now we have to look at the next game.

“Every time you win, you see yourself closer and you celebrate. But it’s not over, we have to finish the job. It was only 12 months ago that we were relegated, it’s not easy to come back.

“I just said to Carlos Corberan that we have been lucky in this game. And he said to me: ‘You have been lucky here, but in the last two games, you have been completely unlucky.’”

Albion’s play-off hopes remain in the balance after two successive defeats but Corberan says he is ready for the challenge with two games left.

The Spanish coach said: “It’s excellent! I love this pressure. I am preparing for this – I am ready to fight until the last minute of the last game. We’re in a good position to fight for that, I’m proud of what we’re doing.

“The play off is a step to promotion. There are amazing teams here, who have made a big financial investment, but we have two games to achieve the play offs. I don’t care whether we’re fifth or sixth. I want the most points we can achieve. That’s all I’m thinking about.”

Corberan admitted losing to Leicester, after having so much of the game, was hard to take, adding: “This was not a fair result, we did everything but put the ball in the net until late on.

“We created more chances than the best team in the division, and I’m proud of that. But I’ve never seen one player make three goal-line clearances before, that was hard to accept.”

Ten-man Exeter continued their excellent form with a late 2-1 victory at Northampton.

The Grecians played the whole second half a man down but extended their unbeaten run to nine games thanks to Will Aimson’s 83rd minute winner.

The visitors opened the scoring at Sixfields when Harris collected Dion Rankine’s pass on 20 minutes and fired in off the post.

Jake Richards went close to adding to City’s lead before an almighty goalmouth scramble at the other end saw Louis Appere, Mitch Pinnock and Marc Leonard all have efforts either blocked or saved.

Exeter lost a man in first-half stoppage-time with Ryan Woods sent off for violent conduct after clashing with home captain Jon Guthrie.

Northampton inevitably dominated possession in the second half but it took until the 74th minute for the equaliser to arrive when Exeter failed to deal with a long throw and Guthrie stabbed in the loose ball.

But despite their numerical disadvantage, the visitors snatched victory thanks to Aimson, who ghosted in at the back post to convert Zak Jules’ cross seven minutes from time.

Emma Hayes had mixed feelings despite seeing Chelsea condemn holders Barcelona to a first home defeat for five years and edge closer to the Champions League final.

Erin Cuthbert’s first-half goal clinched a precious 1-0 semi-final first-leg win at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys to set the Women’s Super League leaders up perfectly for the return at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.

It was a first competitive victory for the Blues over Barca, who knocked them out at the same stage last season on their way to a second European title, and came courtesy of a superb defensive effort – but boss Hayes was left wondering what might have been.

She told DAZN: “It’s just half-time. Nobody should get carried away with that and to be honest, I’m disappointed we didn’t get the second goal.

“It’s a difficult place to come and they carried out the game plan I asked them to do – so from that perspective, I’m happy.”

The Blues had to soak up early pressure but did so to such effect that Barca did not muster a single shot on target during a tense encounter.

Cuthbert’s 40th-minute strike gave the visitors the lead and, having seen French referee Stephanie Frappart reverse her decision to award a penalty against Kadeisha Buchanan for handball after the break, they might have increased their advantage.

Salma Paralluelo and substitute Alexia Putellas could have salvaged a draw amid a late flurry but Chelsea held firm.

Hayes is well aware of the threat Barcelona will pose in the second leg.

Hayes said: “I think I know how to come away from home and get a result. We have under-performed against Barcelona at home.

“Barcelona have another level in them and I think that’s clear. Maybe they don’t feel they were at their best today and we have to anticipate that.”

Paris St Germain head coach Luis Enrique believes his side’s Ligue 1 meeting against Lyon this weekend will have no bearing on next month’s Coupe de France final.

PSG host Lyon at the Parc de Princes in the league on Sunday and the two sides will clash again in the cup final on May 25 in Lille.

Enrique’s believes this meeting will be a good test for his side, fresh from their Champions League quarter-final success in midweek, but does not see it as a dress rehearsal for next month.

He told a press conference: “Tomorrow’s game will be completely different to the final in the Coupe de France based on the importance.

“But as a game that comes above others, given the context, it is a really good test for us to see how we are doing against the best team in Lyon.

“They have put in the best results and they have got to the final, so that shows they are working very hard and it will be a real test for us, but I don’t know if there will be any similarities between tomorrow’s game and the final. Finals are different.”

PSG go into Sunday’s clash 10 points clear of Brest at the top of the Ligue 1 table while Lyon sit in seventh and are aiming to clinch a European spot.

Only six league matches remain for the Parisians, who are on track for a 12th league title, but Enrique is in no rush to wrap up first place so they can focus on the Champions League and the cup.

He said: “There is no urgency of any sort. The aim is the same as always, which is to win the league sooner or later.

“But what matters is being competitive in any match and representing this club in the best way and we want to be competitive whether we win it sooner or later because with the competitions that we are in we need to be competitive in every game, whether we win Ligue 1 in two or three weeks.”

Having already clinched the French Super Cup in January, PSG remain on course for four trophies after their midweek European success.

They completed a 6-4 aggregate success against Barcelona on Tuesday to reach the last four of the Champions League and Enrique praised the impact of all of his players.

“In order to be able to compete for every trophy as I have said, you need a really big squad of at least 23 players,” he added.

“That is what we need here and as the season has progressed we have seen the importance of those players. As for who is important in the last month and a half we have seen the players need to be ready and work hard when we need them.

“I think the team is continuing to progress and I am happy to see the players’ attitude in training.”

Leicester returned to the top of the Championship with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion and two more victories from their remaining three games would secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Enzo Maresca’s side could go up on Tuesday if they beat Southampton at the King Power Stadium.

Jamie Vardy’s 15th league goal of the season effectively sealed the victory and made up for him missing a penalty in the first half.

Leicester took the lead through Wilfred Ndidi in the 22nd minute after Albion had dominated the early stages and missed a string of chances to take the lead.

West Brom manager Carlos Corberan will wonder how his side managed to squander so many oppportunities to score, and their second successive defeat means their play-off place is by no means certain.

They did eventually find the net through their captain, Jed Wallace, with 14 minutes left, but could not force an equaliser.

Leicester’s win owes much to central midfielder Hamza Choudhury who made three goal-line clearances – two of them coming within seconds of one another.

But with both teams recording a combined total of almost 30 shots, the game was partly a tale of the opportunities that were squandered.

West Brom could have had the match won inside the first 20 minutes. With Maresca’s team playing out from the back, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall passed the ball straight to Okay Yukuslu, but he put his hurried shot over the bar.

Mikey Johnston was then involved on three occasions, seeing an effort cleared off the line after 14 minutes. He then had a shot saved by Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen before putting another chance over the bar.

Leicester made Albion pay for their wastefulness in front of goal by taking the lead. Stephy Mavididi pulled the ball back for defender Wout Faes who crossed for Vardy. His header was kept out by Albion goalkeeper Alex Palmer but Ndidi converted the rebound from close range.

Maresca’s side looked set to take a two-goal advantage into the break. Vardy ran on to a long ball from Hermansen a minute before half-time and was pushed over by West Brom defender Conor Townsend in the 18 yard box. Vardy had scored four penalties from four this season, but he hit the post from his fifth spot kick of the campaign.

Choudhury then cleared off the line twice in the space of a few seconds after 51 minutes. First, he blocked a shot from Yann M’Vila and then denied Grady Diangana. The drama continued as, from the resulting corner, Kyle Bartley headed against the bar with Diangana unable to get the vital touch from close range.

Again, Albion were punished for missing their chances as Vardy increased Leicester’s lead after 65 minutes. Choudhury found Abdul Fatawu on the right and his cross was met by Vardy who headed in from close range.

West Brom finally found the net when defender Cedric Kipre’s inch-perfect pass found Wallace who slid the ball past Hermansen.

Erin Cuthbert gave Chelsea a priceless first-leg lead in their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona after inflicting a first home defeat for five years on the holders.

Cuthbert’s 40th-minute strike was enough to secure a 1-0 win at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys – Barca’s first defeat of the season – on an afternoon when the Blues produced a superb defensive display to deny the free-scoring defending champions a single shot on target.

Things might have been different, however, had referee Stephanie Frappart not been advised to review her decision to award the hosts a second-half penalty for handball to leave Emma Hayes and her players with something to defend at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.

Jess Carter and Kadeisha Buchanan had to be resilient at the heart of the Blues defence early on, although it took a well-timed intervention by Ingrid Engen to prevent Johanna Rytting Kaneryd from making the most of Cuthbert’s 10th-minute ball over the top.

Carter had to be in the right place at the right time to block Salma Paralluelo’s 16th-minute shot after a pacy break by Aitana Bonmati and Buchanan was equally alert to deny the same player after she had burst clear six minutes later.

The visitors were growing into the game with Mayra Ramirez making in-roads down the left and they got their reward five minutes before the break when Sjoeke Nusken held the ball up and then squared for Cuthbert, whose shot looped up off Engel and over keeper Catalina Coll.

But they looked to be in trouble seconds later when the referee awarded a penalty against Buchanan after she had blocked Patri Guijarro’s goal-bound effort with her arm, only for a lengthy VAR review, which showed that Paralluelo had been offside in the build-up, to come to their rescue.

Paralluelo volleyed horribly wide after being picked out at the far post by Caroline Graham Hansen and substitute Alexia Putellas missed the target with salvation beckoning with the final kick of the game.

Philippe Clement is adamant under-pressure Rangers will focus fully on playing to their own strengths in Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final with Hearts.

The Ibrox side head into the Hampden showdown on the back of a damaging run of two wins from their last eight games in all competitions, with their cinch Premiership title bid having been dented significantly by a return of just two points from their last three matches.

Hearts, by contrast, go into the match buoyed by back-to-back wins over St Mirren and Livingston and are 11 points clear of their nearest rivals in their quest to secure third place in the table.

Clement dismissed any notion that his side must adapt their game-plan in any way to deal with Steven Naismith’s on-form team and instead must simply attempt to play their own game to a higher standard than they have been recently.

“I don’t counter anything,” he said. “We will play our own game, we don’t need to counter another team.

“We are going to play our own game and believe in ourselves and show our qualities.

“To win we need a better performance than we had on Wednesday (in the 0-0 draw at Dundee), for sure. We need to do the right things against Hearts who have played a very good season.

“It’s a very interesting test for the players and I know they are all hungry to go to the final. They’ve had the experience of going to a final and winning it (the Viaplay Cup) and some of them have won several already so the mood is big.”

Clement felt some anxiety crept into Rangers’ play on Wednesday and caused them to go too direct, so he has called for them to rediscover their composure when in possession.

“Against Dundee we were too direct so we lost the balance in that way,” he said. “Sometimes we wanted to play too fast and it’s finding that good balance by showing it with images and what we need to do and take lessons out of that.

“Maybe the hunger was too big to go too fast forward. We need to find a good balance and do that in a better way against Hearts.”

Rangers have been subjected to ferocious criticism recently and Clement admits he will find out a lot about his players in terms of how they respond under pressure in the coming weeks.

“It is easy to be good and be happy when it goes easy,” he said. “It is when the going gets tough you see the personality and the character.

“Players can grow in this. It is a growing experience. It is not only from nature that you have this, you can grow in that.

“That is an important part of being part of this club. It is also something that Nils (Koppen, director of football recruitment) knows really well, it is something to look at in recruitment also.”

Fulham boss Marco Silva will continue to demand more from Andreas Pereira as the Brazilian looks to maintain his form heading into the closing weeks of the Premier League season.

Pereira scored both goals in Fulham’s 2-0 victory at West Ham last weekend, which was a first win in four matches.

The former Manchester United attacking midfielder had not found the net since August, but is top of Fulham’s assists with eight so far.

The consistency of Pereira, who was born in Belgium, has seen him recalled into the Brazil national team, featuring in both March friendlies against England at Wembley and then Spain.

Silva feels the 28-year-old, who had a successful loan spell at Flamengo before signing for Fulham in the summer of 2022, still has plenty more to offer.

“Andreas, last season made a huge impact. Before he joined us, he played more as a second midfielder and not so offensive,” the Fulham boss said.

“This season, he is going to have one of the best assist records for us – and we will demand more.

“Last week, he showed the desire to arrive in the right areas.”

Fulham host Liverpool on Sunday looking to further dent the Reds’ ambitions.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were knocked out of the Europa League by Atalanta and also slumped to what could prove a costly home defeat against Crystal Palace to lose ground in the Premier League title race.

Fulham have pushed Liverpool in each of their three meetings this season, being narrowly edged out 4-3 after a dramatic finish at Anfield in their league match at the start of December followed by what was a tight Carabao Cup semi-final over two legs.

“Probably some of them (have been) too open for a manager to enjoy, but yes, at Anfield and at the Cottage as well, they have been really – in some moments – emotional games, in other moments entertaining,” Silva said at a press conference.

“Tight games always, in some of them dramatic ends of the match. But even last season, it was really tough for them to come to play at Craven Cottage (in the) Carabao Cup this season, too.”

Silva added: “We want to make life really difficult for Liverpool, to give them a match.

“Let’s hope we can get a different result than the last games that we played against them.

Fulham could yet challenge for a top-10 finish.

“I think we are in the best moment of the season,” Silva said. “We haven’t had big injuries in the last month and a half, or two months.

“It, of course, creates a competition inside our squad that helps myself and the players to reach a different level and good headaches for me to decide, which is always the better situation to plan a game and prepare for the next game.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota gives their title hopes a much-needed boost.

Defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend saw Klopp’s side drop to third as Manchester City moved into a two-point lead at the top of the table.

But with results faltering, the performance by Alexander-Arnold in the Europa League win over Atalanta, particularly in the first half, has offered renewed hope.

The defender was making his first start since mid-February after a knee injury and, while Jota has yet to have the same impact in three relatively short substitute appearances after a similar two-month lay-off, the clinical nature of his game could offset some of the deficiencies currently being experienced by his fellow forwards.

“We need Trent Alexander-Arnold, of course, but we need him in a really good shape and form and that’s what he has to get up to,” said Klopp ahead of the trip to Fulham.

“It’s not about him and it’s not his fault if he wouldn’t be, it’s just the situation. So how quick can we get him rolling if you want – the same for Diogo.

“We have to find a way to help the boys in the best way, to bring them as quick as possible into their best form or shape and from there we have to go.

“Without them we wouldn’t have a chance. With them we have a chance, with them in a really good football moment the chance gets bigger and bigger.”

Klopp remains positive about their chances despite recent failures and feels six wins could see them snatch the title from the grasp of their rivals.

Although a Europa League exit on aggregate was disappointing there were positives to take from the game.

Alexander-Arnold’s display, drifting infield to dictate play and even popping up in the centre-forward’s position on occasions in Bergamo, was one and a first clean sheet in 10 matches was another.

With struggles up front continuing – Liverpool have scored only two goals in the opening 15 minutes in a league game this season – a more solid backline offers a better platform and that is why Klopp is optimistic.

“I don’t have a lot of qualities but I am always completely honest. If I don’t feel great the players feel it pretty quickly,” he said.

“I cannot really deny or just keep it under the carpet so that means after the game against Palace people ask ‘What do you tell the team now?’.

“But here we are a few days later and I feel absolutely great, I see the good in the situation where we are. It is fantastic.

“The boys know that I don’t tell them things which I don’t believe in and I am 100 percent sure we can really win all of the games we will have to from now on.

“What should influence us more: the last game, the last week or is it the chance in front of us?

“I am fully (of the opinion) that there is a next chance for us and we can turn things absolutely around in all departments. We can make it still an outstanding season.

“It will be a good season but of course how you look at it is in the end is massively influenced by the last part of it.”

Gareth Taylor has urged Manchester City to step up and seize their moment in the Women’s Super League title race.

Chelsea returned to the summit on goal difference on Wednesday night with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa but Taylor’s team will play twice before the current champions get the chance to add to their 46-point tally.

While Chelsea switch their attention to Champions League semi-final action with Barcelona over the next two weekends, City host West Ham on Sunday before they travel to Bristol City on April 28 with the aim of being six points clear going into May.

Taylor told a press conference: “Wednesday night changed things around a little bit again but of course we play now two games before Chelsea play again, so it is an important moment for us to step up and do our bit.

“That is all we will do. Attack the next game, give it our very best and do what we can.

“Yeah, I’m excited about this next period and think it is a great opportunity for us.

“If we had looked at that at the beginning of the season, knowing that most of the time the WSL goes to the final game, I think it is a fantastic position for us to be in.

“We’ve worked so hard and we don’t want to lose that opportunity. We want to continue with it and take it all the way.”

City will have first-choice Khiara Keating in goal after she was able to shake off the knee issue which forced her to leave England national team duty earlier this month.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adobe Women’s FA Cup (@adobewomensfacup)

A Women’s FA Cup final dress rehearsal will also take place on Sunday when Manchester United host Tottenham.

Grace Clinton will be a notable absentee due to the terms of her loan at Spurs from United and she will also be unavailable at Wembley on May 12.

Tottenham head coach Robert Vilahamn has made no secret of his desire to keep the England international beyond this season-long loan but his opposite number Marc Skinner talked up his future hopes for Clinton in a United shirt.

Skinner said: “When we signed Grace two seasons ago, it was that we saw this level of potential for sure.

“It’s really interesting talking to people around her and so on, there is still loads more we can give to her and we can keep adding to her.

“But I can’t stress this enough, the whole reason she went on loan was to be able to do that.

“We couldn’t give her the minutes that needed her to be able to do that but she has now proven she is in that space, she has had that exposure and I look forward to welcoming her back to do that for Manchester United.”

Sunday’s other fixture will see third-placed Arsenal host Leicester with the Gunners eager to close the gap on Chelsea, which stands at six points with four fixtures left to play.