Manchester United v Sunderland: ‘Anything can happen’ in Women’s FA Cup quarter-final

Like some of her team-mates, 26-year-old Goddard has top-flight experience.

She has featured in the Women’s Super League for Yeovil Town and has even faced United in this competition before when she was at Bridgwater United – something she says gives her hope for Sunderland’s chances.

“We only lost 2-0 so I think in terms of that and the strength of the team that we’ve got now is completely different, so we can definitely put on a good performance and show them what we’re about,” she adds.

She is not the only person who will be familiar with United – manager Melanie Reay has recently been completing her Uefa Pro Licence course alongside Red Devils boss Marc Skinner.

Reay told BBC Radio Newcastle: “We’ve had a lot of banter over the last 48 hours! They’re going to take the game seriously as I would expect.

“We’ve got full respect for each other so I am expecting a very strong Manchester United team on Saturday night.”

Sunderland will be without top scorer Eleanor Dale on Saturday, who was ruled out after injuring her knee last month.

However, the Black Cats head into the cup fixture in a positive mood after winning a local derby against title challengers Durham last weekend.

United may be in the division above – but Saturday’s cup game isn’t a total mismatch. Sunderland, like many other second-tier outfits, are now fully professional and finished just five points shy of promotion last year.

The Women’s Championship is rapidly becoming more professional – Goddard’s side train four days a week as well as competing in their games at the weekend.

They will relish the opportunity against United, but are not just viewing it as a big day out. Goddard says Sunderland want to feature in high-profile fixtures more regularly in the future.

“You’ve got to play to the occasion but it’s not just about that. As a group we all want to be playing against that kind of level week-in, week-out,” she says.