The Blues thumped FA WSL 1 newcomers Yeovil at the Academy Stadium, ahead of home clashes against fellow title rivals Chelsea and Arsenal as the season begins its finale.
The reigning champions are in red-hot form, having claimed 3-0, 4-1 and 5-1 triumphs in successive matches and the skipper explained the importance of heading into such major games on a high.
“We know we’ve got a big two weeks coming up,” Houghton declared.
“Against Yeovil, it was all about gaining momentum from the FA Cup final.
“Although the scoreline could have been higher, we were pleased with our performance – the way we moved the ball and the speed of play.
“We weren’t happy with the goal we conceded but in terms of our attacking performance, we controlled the game.
“We’ve been clinical in recent weeks but I don’t think anything has changed in particular. People’s abilities are coming out now.
“As a top team, we have to take our chances.
“Thankfully, the girls have been doing that. Credit to them because the team has been rotated a little but everyone has taken their chance when they’ve come in.
“Hopefully, they can do the job for everyone over the next few weeks and we can take our form into Thursday’s game.”
Previewing the midweek visit of Chelsea and Sunday’s game against Arsenal, Houghton played down talk of potential title deciders.
“We’ll approach the Chelsea and Arsenal games the way we approach every game,” she stated.
“There’s a little bit of rivalry between ourselves and them. When you’re the league title holders, everybody wants to get at you and take the trophy off you.
“We’ll make sure we analyse them but mainly, we’ll focus on ourselves and hope to improve.
“We love playing at home. It’s our fortress and it’s important we just continue to win football games.”
The captain also reflected on her side’s almost-perfect start to the Spring Series, expressing her pride.
“We were disappointed with our performance in the game against Birmingham,” she admitted.
“However, with our tough schedule (there seems to have been a game every three or four days!), it’s important that we have stayed as fresh as possible to gain as many points as we could.
“We knew the Spring Series would be tough in terms of fitting our Champions League games in, along with our FA Cup run, but we have such an incredible squad.
“For us, it’s about being competitive and making sure we keep our standards high.”
