InterviewMarie Höbinger on team spirit, practising free-kicks and Smith quality

Olivia Smith gave the Reds a first-half lead in that Barclays Women’s Super League clash with an excellent, outside-of-the-box strike in front of her family, who had travelled over from Canada to watch.

City went on to claim all three points, however, with a late comeback thanks to two goals from Khadija Shaw, whose winner was scored two minutes into stoppage time.

Matt Beard’s side return to action tomorrow against Crystal Palace at St Helens Stadium in their last WSL outing before the international break (kick-off 2pm BST).

• Get your tickets for LFC Women v Crystal Palace on Sunday here

Austria international Höbinger is now in her second season with the club and, as part of following up an impressive debut campaign, she netted a stunning free-kick and dramatic winner from the penalty spot during the recent victory at Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpoolfc.com caught up with the No.14 ahead of the visit of Palace, with Höbinger discussing the positives to take from the clash with City, practising set-pieces in training, and why team spirit is a big part of the squad’s continued progress…

On the many positives that can be taken from the performance against City…

I think we showed a great character in the game. We showed we are really hard to break down and it was a good team performance against a very good team.

On Smith’s fantastic strike in front of her family watching on at Anfield…

It was a great goal at such an important time as well. She is so powerful and is so good at getting into the situations we want her to be in. A great strike!

On developing a nice understanding on the field so far with Smith…

She is very fun to play with, so strong and dangerous, we can isolate her on the wing and she can cause defences problems. We have played a few games together now on the right side and I hope we can build on that.

On Sunday’s meeting with Palace at St Helens Stadium…

It’s good to be back at St Helens, our last game before the international break. We want to control the game and hopefully get the three points. The stadium is amazing, the atmosphere is great and the fans seem very happy with it as well. The pitch is great, the support we get is amazing and we are really enjoying our new home ground.

On how big a part the fans can play to help the team get over the line on Sunday…

A hundred per cent, especially when it comes to the second half and near the end of the game, that’s the most important part to get the momentum right. They can definitely help us, as they always do.

On the new players settling in and it being an exciting team to play in…

Kappy [Cornelia Kapocs] is great as well and I think we have loads of threats when we are attacking, especially on the counter-attack, so for me it’s really nice because they make great runs and I love playing alongside them.

On her stunning free-kick during the recent win at Tottenham…

I think it was special because we also got the lead out of it. At that moment I just wanted to give the team something back for their performance on that day, everyone was just 100 per cent committed to getting us the win. It was amazing to score that because it gave the team so much.

On whether she practises free-kicks on a daily basis at the AXA Melwood Training Centre…

Yes, I do practise them a lot but I think a game situation is always a bit different, there’s a bit more pressure. I knew where I wanted to place it because I’ve done it loads of times and I was happy to see it go in.

On how much she is enjoying it at Liverpool, with this being her second season with the club…

I think we have been more like ourselves in the last couple of weeks and that is actually what we want to show in the next few weeks as well. We have a great team character here and that is a big part of our success, I would say. It’s just so fun here working with the team and the coaches every day and we know we can only do it together.

• Get your tickets for LFC Women v Crystal Palace on Sunday here