Everton Women goalkeeper Sandy MacIver believes Sunday’s match against Chelsea represents an opportunity to kick-start the Blues' campaign.

Willie Kirk's team fell to defeat on the opening day of the season against Manchester City but this weekend’s trip to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League champions is a chance to earn a statement result.

Chelsea themselves suffered defeat as they lost 3-2 away to Arsenal.

The England international knows how tough a test it will be at Kingsmeadow tomorrow.

“Sunday is a chance for us to prove ourselves against a top team,” MacIver told evertontv.

“We’re not going to turn up and lie down for the WSL champions.

“There are three points up for grabs and we definitely have the squad capable of taking those three points.

“The priority going into the weekend is not to lose but we have the belief we can go and beat these top teams.

“We are both hurting. Both teams will be up for it even more on Sunday.

“We just need to keep the focus and back ourselves going into a really big game.”

Manager Kirk also acknowledged the difficult task ahead but is confident his players will rise to the occasion.

“I don’t think anyone would have picked Manchester City and Chelsea as their first two games, but that’s the hand we were dealt,” said Kirk.

“We were looking forward to it [before the season started], we are still looking forward to it.

“We wanted an early gauge on where we are.

“People will look at the result on Saturday [against City] and think we’re miles away, which we’re absolutely not.

“Last weekend hasn’t changed the way we’re approaching this game.

“We’ll go down to London and we’ll be setting up to try to win the game.

“We’re not going to underestimate how tough it’ll be.

“You need to prepare properly, assess the opponent in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and come up with a robust gameplan that will hopefully get you a positive result.”

MacIver joined the squad later in pre-season due to her commitments at the Olympic Games with Team GB.

The 23-year-old spoke of her new teammates and how the standard of Everton's squad has increased dramatically since last season.

“It’s been a breath of fresh air,” she added.

“You look at the quality of players we have brought in.

“We have brought in silver medallists from the Olympics, players like Kenza [Dali].

“The challenge now is to make sure we play well together and get those results.

“It’s all well and good having the players, but at the end of the day, we have to perform on the pitch.

“I’m really excited for the direction we’re going.”

Republic of Ireland international Courtney Brosnan joined the Club over the summer and MacIver feels she is learning a lot from her fellow goalkeeper.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with Courtney," said MacIver.

“She’s a different keeper from me, which I think benefits us both.

“We can come into our game from different angles.

“There are a lot of things I need to work on that Courtney does well, so visually that lets me see what I need to do to get better.”

With nine new players signed over the summer – eight of whom are in the squad – MacIver reckons Kirk's team could be poised to challenge for silverware this season.

“We have made a big statement with the signings we brought in and, in training, it’s clear to see we do have the quality to qualify for the Champions League," continued Kirk.

“We've not had the time to gel as much but the quality is there so I firmly believe we will get where we want to come the end of the season.”

The action gets under way in London at 12.30pm BST with the match available to watch on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.