Skinner: We controlled the whole game

Despite a frustrating first half, Skinner's side went in 1-0 up at the break courtesy of a sublime Vilde Boe Risa free-kick. But the Reds found a cutting edge in the second 45, scoring a further four goals to book our place in the last eight. 

“I thought that Durham, in the first half, were resolute, compact,” the boss told MUTV. 

“We needed to move the ball a bit quicker, find solutions quicker in behind the back line. 

“[In the] second half we asked for a little bit more, and straight away Leah [Galton] timed her run better, we were in behind and we scored. 

“Overall we controlled the whole game, but credit to Durham for the professional resilience they showed.” 

United had an abundance of quality on the bench and Skinner opted to bring on five substitutes during the second half, with two of them – Alessia Russo and Nikita Parris – getting on the scoresheet. 

“That is what we tried to design this year [a quality squad],” he added. 

“We didn’t have enough depth last year; it’s a whole team spirit, a whole team collective. 

“There will be people that are disappointed because they haven’t played but that is the competitive nature of this team which drives our standards, and the second half showed the qualities we have.” 

While Skinner's Reds are comfortably into the quarter-finals of the Women's FA Cup, attentions will firmly turn to our next league encounter, against Leicester City at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday.

The boss is looking forward to getting a ‘good week’ of training in, saying: “We will see what we need to do in order to adjust for Leicester and how we can try and take the points out of that game.”

TICKETS FOR TWO HOME GAMES

You can now buy tickets for these two huge WSL fixtures:

Leicester City, Leigh Sports Village, Sunday 5 March (12:30 GMT)

West Ham United, Old Trafford, Saturday 25 March (17:30 GMT)

Be sure to visit manutd.com/tickets and select women's team from the menu.