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Beard on 'stronger' Chelsea, points so far and Reds' ambition

Liverpool boss Matt Beard has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Women's Super League game against Chelsea (kick-off 12:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

  • Lucy Parry will miss the game as "her Achilles has flared up again".

  • Fuka Nagano is "50-50" as she continues to recover from an ankle injury.

  • Beard says you can see the identity of Chelsea under Sonia Bompastor "really starting to show" after their resounding 5-0 win over Everton.

  • The return of Liverpool defender Grace Fisk last week was a huge boost, says Beard, who also praised the performance of Taylor Hinds.

  • Beard says Chelsea are still "the team to beat" after a strong start under Bompastor and investment this summer that has "made them even stronger".

  • He admits they look at the WSL table to make sure they are keeping up with the top group but their position in the table now is not the 'be-all and end-all'.

  • On their season so far, he says: "I think we’re a little bit behind points-wise, definitely. But if you look at last year, there were games we won where we probably weren’t expected to win. It all evens itself out. We are an ambitious team and club - but things just take a little bit of time."

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[BBC]