Aileen Whelan’s goal in the 84th minute looked to have claimed a famous win for Albion, but Adelina Engman’s stoppage-time strike claimed the Blues a point in a game which gave the Seagulls boss many reasons for encouragement.
She said, “The fact that we conceded in injury time was disappointing, but we’ve got to give Chelsea credit for really coming at us in those last three minutes, and a point is better than losing the game.
“We worked really hard in pre-season on a game plan against sides with Chelsea’s quality, and I thought the players stuck to it well and executed it for most of the game.
“Chelsea are a team that are full of internationals, so we really had to be on our game. The whole team put in a shift today, and I’m very pleased in that sense.”
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Albion’s next league game is a match away at reigning FAWSL champions Arsenal in a fortnight’s time, and Powell says that her team should take plenty of positives from this display before they head to north London.
“It’s got to give us some confidence heading into the next game. We recognise that Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City are above everyone else, but on our day we’ll give it a go and know we’ll have to be at our very best to get a result.
“We have some experience under our belts in this league now, and all the players are putting in the work to do better than last season.
“We’ve still only been in this league for one season, and we have to recognise the demands of what’s required.
“If you’re not at the races, then you will get punished very quickly. We have taken some big knocks already at this level, but the focus is always on the next game.”