Williams: I absolutely love the FA Cup!

Speaking to MUTV following the game, Williams discussed how she'd had a premonition the following evening in a dream, which told her she was going to come onto the pitch as a substitute and score the winner.

She said: "I actually said to John on the bench, our kitman, I said, 'Ah John, I had a dream last night that we're drawing and I come on and I get a hat-trick in eight minutes,' but I got the two goals.

"But more important is the team today and how well they started and, again, it just shows that the girls that start the game, don't always finish the game but they do their job, and I come on and do mine."

Despite the opposition, Southampton, hailing from the league below the Reds, she says that her side knew that we were in for a tough test today, and that played out on the pitch.

"We'd done our homework on Southampton, but that's the joys of the FA Cup," the striker said. "You get all sorts thrown at you. So we knew they were going to be resilient, they were going to come at us and not let up.

"I think for us today, we had to show patience, and professionalism, to get the job done and, yeah, we did. But credit to Southampton, they've been brilliant today, really took us to the end."

The 36-year-old sees the FA Cup as a brilliant opportunity to face teams from across the pyramid, and grow the women's game in the process. 

She said: "For me, with these teams, they can be so unorthodox and, for them, it's a really good chance to see the level they're at for one day when they are competing [against teams] in the WSL so, to have this cup, it's brilliant for the women's game.

"I think now, we can only just keep pushing on and growing the women's game."

The win today has booked United a place in the quarter-final of the competition, but asked whether she has any preference for the draw, Williams maintained that our approach will be the same whoever the opponent may be.

"Whoever we get, I'm sure, as always, we'll be professional and hit that game as we always do, and fingers crossed this journey can continue and we're in the FA Cup final again.

"Well, that's my dream anyway!"

The quarter-final draw is set to take place on Monday 12 February on The One Show, broadcasted live on BBC One from 19:00 GMT, with the draw slated to begin around 20 minutes later.