Nolan backs Eagles to soar in thrilling Championship title race

Crystal Palace ace Hayley Nolan has backed her side to come out on top in a five-way tussle for the Women's Championship title.

The Eagles are battling Charlton, Sunderland, Southampton and Birmingham for top spot in the second tier, with the quintet separated by just four points heading into this weekend's fixtures.

Only the league winners will earn promotion to the Women's Super League and Republic of Ireland international Nolan, 26, admits the stakes are high ahead of Sunday's showdown with Blackburn.

She told LiveScore: "That's the beauty of this league. I think people who don't watch the Championship don't understand how good the level is.

"You've got five teams pushing for the title and a bunch of sides outside of that group who can take points off anyone on their day.

"We can only focus on what we are doing because that's all we can control.

"We just have to get our wins one at a time and then anyone dropping points around us is a bonus."

A home clash with mid-table Rovers at Gander Green Lane is not a prospect the Eagles are taking lightly.

Nolan and Co enjoyed a comfortable 4-0 win in the reverse fixture last October but had a much tougher time against them in the Women's FA Cup last month — scoring three times in the last 15 minutes to secure a 3-1 victory.

The summer signing explained: "I think this could be one of our most difficult games remaining.

"We've played them twice already this season and things were a lot tighter the second time around.

"They will have a clear game plan now and it's up to us to deal with that and be creative with how we get around that. 

"This is the business end of the season. You just have to get results by any means possible."

Cup heroics

Palace's FA Cup run ended last weekend at the hands of holders Chelsea — but only after a spirited effort from the underdogs.

Emma Hayes' Blues were starved of chances and needed a back-heel flick from big-money January signing Mayra Ramirez to snatch a 1-0 win.

For Nolan and her team-mates, the loss was bittersweet.

She said: "Going into the Chelsea game, you know most people are going to write you off as a Championship side playing arguably the best team in the world.

"But we were confident and wanted to make it as difficult as possible for them, which was exactly what we did. 

"To concede with nine minutes left was gutting. We thought we were going to hold out.

"You could feel their players getting a bit concerned as the game went on but it was a brilliant piece of skill that won it.

"It was a painful way to lose but we're proud of our efforts."

Nolan, voted Palace's Player of the Month in January, hopes that fine effort at Kingsmeadow can be a catalyst to help her achieve a lifelong dream.

The ex-London City Lionesses star added: "I've wanted to play in the WSL for a long time. I got close a couple of times with my old team and that was agonising.

"You want to test yourself against the best and we got a taste of it against Chelsea.

"You get the big crowd, amazing atmosphere. I don't want to do that once every few months — I want that every week.

"The Chelsea performance filled us with confidence and hopefully we can use it to get over the line in the league."