The Blues hold a 1-0 advantage heading into the second leg against Brondby IF but the boss believes his side must maintain their winning mentality if they are to progress to the quarter-finals.
“It will be tough over there in Denmark,” he told press.
“I didn’t think it before but now I know just how tough it is to play in the Champions League at this stage of our season. To have a game that tough after the season is mentally challenging but the players put in a good performance.
“Brondby are up there as one of the best teams we’ve faced. Rosengard were one of the best, along with Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.
“The objective was to keep a clean sheet and get a win. It was our last home game as well so we especially wanted a win.
“We’re not going to change our style in Denmark – we can’t change it overnight. We’ve won so many games that to expect us to draw or play not to concede is strange to us.
“Our defensive record speaks for itself. We keep clean sheets but we won’t change the way we play. We have to make sure we’re organised.
“They came here to stop us scoring. That’s nothing new. Although they came here to do that, we are at risk of being exposed every time they make a mistake. It went the way I thought it would go. In terms of understanding our strategy, that was our toughest game.
“They have to come out – they’re at home. Irrelevant of the result, they have to be expansive and play football. That gives us the opportunity to open things up a bit.”
Keira Walsh’s superb effort from distance proved the difference between the two sides at the Academy Stadium, and Cushing had plenty of praise for the youngster.
“She doesn’t hit that many shots,” he laughed. “We’d talked a lot about her because she’d never scored!
“Her performances have been up there with the best midfielders in the league. She’s a consistent, key performer.
“She’s been that good since we signed her from Blackburn. She’s bright, she understands the game and technically, you can see what she can do with the ball. Her passing range is spot on.
“All of our players this year have been exceptional - that’s why they’re in the position we’re in.
“It’s been an exceptional year. I’m proud we have gone undefeated all year. The players have put in a lot of effort.
“We can get to Christmas and be in the last eight of the Champions League or out. We’ve done half a job.
“At this level, it’s the ability to retain the ball. If we can be the best version of us, we’ll probably win the game in Brondby as well.”
Jennifer Beattie echoed: “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. It’s a cliché but it’s only half-time.
“We’re very proud of our defensive record throughout the season. We’re all very happy with another clean sheet. We pride ourselves on that and it’s a very good position to be in ahead of the next leg.
“Coming into this competition, we said we’d take it game by game. Hopefully, we’ll go as far as we can.”
