NewsGareth Taylor column: Derby victory, set-piece dividends and plans for international break

I was really proud of everyone on Sunday and our supporters were fantastic from the first minute of the game right to the end.

We knew the importance of the tie against our local rivals and we wanted to go into the international break on a high with good momentum.

We break for a while now but I think it was important for us to finish on a positive.

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We led 2-0 at half-time but, to be honest, I didn't think we played our greatest level of football. But we certainly improved in the second half.

We had moments to go more than 2-0 but Courtney Brosnan made some good saves and there was also a little bit of poor finishing from us.

We were a threat from set-pieces, especially from Ceri Holland and I think her contribution has been great.

She has put in best-player performances time and time again. Her set-piece delivery, the levels have just gone right up and we are now such a good attacking threat from corners and free-kicks.

The work done behind the scenes on that with Jordan [Kevan] and the girls has been really good and we are starting to see dividends of that now.

Unfortunately, Mia Enderby suffered an injury when she scored our first goal.

We still don't know for certain what that injury looks like and how long she will be out of action, but I thought Mia was really brave because that ball was curling away from her.

It was good to see Beata Olsson come on and get a goal for us. She did well and it's difficult when you have to come on not in your favoured position, but she did a good job for the team.

I have been impressed by the way Martha Thomas leads the line really well, she has been great in and out of possession.

Martha is an intelligent player, she attacks crosses really well and holds the ball up well. Her understanding of the way we want to press is really crucial to the team being successful.

It was just a really good win for us. Confidence levels are good anyway. Aurélie Csillag came on and made a good contribution as well when legs were tired, so now we have got good competition for places in that top end of the pitch.

We face a trip to Charlton Athletic in the quarter-finals. Ideally you always want a home tie, but we did really well away from home against London Bees in the fourth round.

We look forward to the trip to Charlton and we will give it everything we've got to try to reach the semi-finals for the second season in a row.

There is now an extended break due to the internationals before our next WSL game when we host Leicester City on March 15.

Fuka Nagano and Risa Shimizu will be missing against Leicester and Brighton due to them appearing in the Asia Cup. The cup affects a lot of other teams as well and it's an opportunity for other players to step up.

We will be ready and make sure we give our best, and during this break we will be working hard with the players who are not away with their countries.

We have got a good crew of seven or eight players, including Martha and Beata, Kappy [Cornelia Kapocs] for part of the break.

We are hopeful that Anna Josendal will be able to train with us, which is a real boost for the squad. Anna can bring us something different in the final third of the pitch and we need to have all hands on deck for some big games coming up.

Thank you for your continued support.

YNWA,

Gareth

Gareth Taylor was speaking to Liverpoolfc.com's Steve Hunter