The Blues reached the quarter-finals for the second successive season, having claimed a 5-0 aggregate triumph in the first leg before coming from a goal down to defeat the Norwegian champions at the Academy Stadium.
The victory was City’s 11th in as many games, maintaining the 100% start to the 2017/18 campaign – and Cushing expressed his pride for the way his side have dug out results.
He told press: “The thing that has pleased me most over this whole period is that we’ve found a way to win.
“That hasn’t always been the case with us. We’ve had to play really well to win in the past – but we have to get back to performing well and controlling games.
“If you’re going to win competitions and leagues, you have to have different sides to you – you have to win when you’re tired or when you don’t play so well and you have to find goals when you’re not on fire.
“Our objective is always to get to the next round. We want to – not only win but – win well.
“We were patchy [against LSK] – maybe because of the tiredness and the amount of games catching up with us, but that’s no excuse.
“We have a squad that should be able to take a lot of games. I’m really proud of the team and that we’ve kept up the 11 wins in 11 games.
“I think the leagues are different this year. This is the most competitive I’ve ever had.
“It’s getting harder and harder to win. There’s three games a week, all the teams want to win… There’s a different feel this year.
“It’s the team that’s got consistency in all those different periods that will win but we haven’t won anything yet. The next draw or defeat is right around the corner.
“The quarter-finals are competitive. We’ve probably got the best eight teams in Europe that are now in the final eight.
“The best playing the best. It’s the old cliché – whoever we get, you’ve got to beat everyone to win.
“We will look forward to it but we’ve got to put it away now as it’s three months away.”
Thursday night’s triumph was marred by a serious injury to defender Megan Campbell.
Cushing explained the Ireland star looked to have hyperextended her knee in an innocuous challenge, as she tried to intercept the ball.
“It didn’t look great on the pitch,” he admitted. “I’ve seen her and she was in pain.
“It’s her right knee but obviously we don’t have any diagnosis yet because of the swelling.
“It’s the same as Pauline [Bremer] – she will get the support she needs. We have an exceptional medical team who will look after her and give her the right attention.
“We will know more either tomorrow, Saturday or Sunday – once she’s had more scans and thorough assessments.
“One thing we have here is an excellent medical team. We have a clear process when something like that happens. Megan will receive a quality of care that we have and we will move forward with that one.
“I think it does [cast a shadow over the game]. We have good team spirit and such a togetherness.
“We have such a collective style of play and collective way of working. We have a bond between us.
“Injuries are part of football but we have to move on and continue to win.”
On Karen Bardsley’s absence, Cushing clarified: “KB is okay. We’ve rehabbed her to make sure she’s fit to play now and over the busy Christmas periods and next year.
“Staff will get a rest but the team will go and play two games now. We have a competitive squad.”
