Chelsea Ladies star Fran Kirby insists Blues can threaten anyone ahead of Champions League last-16 clash with European giants Rosengard

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On track for another against-the-odds success, Chelsea Ladies' Fran Kirby sits back and considers whether this is a spot she was always convinced she would reach.

Leading the nation's most exciting and prolific forward line, a star for club and country and the hero in barrier-breaking Champions League success, it has been a good season so far.

But, after a pause, Kirby tells the Mail on Sunday: 'I wouldn't say I knew I was going to get to this level.' After all, she has come through quitting football as well as long-term knee and ankle injuries that would make any player wince.

Fran Kirby reflects on what has been a controversial period for women's football 

Speaking to Sportsmail's Oliver Todd, Kirby outlined her career achievements to date 

Even this year, this diminutive forward is still working her way back to fitness, coupled with the women's game being played out under a jarring soundtrack of the Mark Sampson saga.

Of her career so far, the 24-year-old adds: 'It has been a lot of hard work and a lot of ups and downs but now that I'm here I'm just loving it and want to keep doing it.

'It's been difficult for me for years with my injuries, so I'm getting there (to my peak) but there's still a lot in the tank. I think I've still got a lot more to give to Chelsea and England.

'I want to get better and better every year so as long as I'm doing that it's positive.' Certainly, the outlook is bright. Chelsea are top of the Women's Super League with a 100 per cent record and, even more impressively, recently toppled Bayern Munich in the Champions League with Kirby hitting the decisive away goal winner.

Sweden's Rosengard are next in the last 16, with the first leg at Chelsea's new Kingsmeadow home on Wednesday night.

The Blues, under the impressive management of Emma Hayes, have emerged through the Sampson storm as a strong group — despite its potentially destructive influence.

She described recent injury troubles and scoring the winner against Bayern Munich last month

The 24-year-old insists the England contingent at Chelsea 'all love each other'

Kirby (left) celebrates scoring the winning away goal at Bayern last month

Team-mates Eniola Aluko and Drew Spence finally had their accusations of racism against the former England manager, who was sacked in September, justified by the Football Association with a guilty verdict last month.

Earlier this week, Kirby's England colleague Lucy Bronze suggested bridges would need to be re-built if Aluko earned an England re-call.

With Chelsea's squad featuring several current England internationals, including Kirby, some cynics may have expected a split in west London. It doesn' t appear to be the case.

'We all get on as players, we all get on as people,' Kirby says. I'm really close to a lot of the girls who were involved in that incident and you have to try and put that to the side and know that they're your mates.'

The regular roars of laughter and constant jokes at the far end of Chelsea's Cobham training ground visit seem to back it up. 'We all love each other,' Kirby adds.

'Women's football has had negative spin of late but we just want to get on the pitch and play football now. 

'That's all we want, that's what we love to do.' And Chelsea are playing — better than anyone out there. Already, four games into the Super League season and 19 goals to the good, with none conceded, they are the obvious tip for the title.

But Kirby described the 'negative spin' circling women's football after Mark Sampson axing

Chelsea face Rosengard in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday

In Europe, nobody wants to face against them: Rosengard might be ranked as the third-best team in Europe but they didn't want to draw Chelsea — who overcame Bayern after back-to-back exits at the hands of Bundesliga rivals Wolfsburg in the last two years.

'We've been unlucky in the Champions League in terms of our draws,' Kirby says. 'Now, beating the likes of Bayern, who are one of the top teams in Europe, people are looking at us and probably don't want to face us.

'If you ask anyone at Rosengard, the last team they wanted to draw was Chelsea.

'We've always been an exciting team going forward, but now we've tightened up at the back too. We're keeping loads of clean sheets. Plus we've got goals all over the pitch so we know that no matter what in every game we're probably going to score.

'We want to try and match them. They've been one of the top teams in Europe for the last however many years so we want to make sure we put our stamp on the game. Let's see how it goes.' 

Kirby has taken up swimming to boost her fitness and is becoming a regular on the brutal SkiErg cross training machine in the gym as well as the usual post-training shoot-outs.

If there is more to come from her, and Chelsea, Europe's best have every reason to be looking on worried.

She feels Chelsea have tightened up defensively and have goals throughout the team