Women’s FA Cup final LIVE: Chelsea vs Manchester United team news and latest updates from Wembley Stadium

“It’s our job to prove we are still at the top,” says Erin Cuthbert. “Trying to remain there is probably the hardest thing. It requires you to adapt and change the way you play a little bit – because everyone starts to figure you out. It’s hard and requires a lot of training and mental toughness.”

Hilariously, the certainty came amid the confusion. “What age am I?” Erin Cuthbert asks, turning to Chelsea’s baffled media officer. “Get it on Wikipedia. I actually don’t know.” After a quick check, the answer turned out to be 24. “Aye,” Cuthbert accepted. “I turn 25 this year, in a couple of months.” So, as the question before put, are you coming into your prime? The reply was quick and decisive. “No. I haven’t yet,” Cuthbert says. “I know there’s more to give.”

Yet open up Chelsea’s trophy-winning machine under Emma Hayes and at its heart you will likely find the Scotland international, whirring away along with the cogs and gears and various parts. After last season’s FA Cup final win against Manchester City, Hayes declared her wish to have a squad of twenty Erin Cuthberts. The versatile midfielder had been awarded player of the match at Wembley, as much for her relentless drive to push Chelsea on in extra time than her strike to light up the final.

“What a moment that was,” Cuthbert grins, and what a goal it was too, “especially when it comes down off the crossbar.”

Interview: Ahead of the Women’s FA Cup final, the Chelsea midfielder discusses her determination to win more trophies with the Blues and why she will relish taking to the battlefield against Manchester United at Wembley

Football runs in Katie Zelem’s blood. The Manchester native started playing on boys’ teams with Failsworth Dynamos before she was scouted by Manchester United aged eight, and she remained in their youth system before joining Liverpool in 2013 – five years before United would form their current women’s side.

A spell at Juventus followed before Zelem returned to her girlhood club, where her 11 goals from 23 appearances helped earn United promotion to the WSL in their debut season.

Four years later her side remain on course for double silverware, with Chelsea – four points back in the WSL but with two games in hand – their main challengers in both competitions. A maiden Women’s Champions League berth is also tantalisingly close after three consecutive fourth-placed finishes.

Zelem, who at eight was a men’s Champions League flagbearer at Old Trafford, said: “Whenever anybody asks me, Manchester United always lives firmly in my heart and captaining Manchester United, making my United debut and certainly this moment will be up there with my highlights.

United are looking to unseat Women’s FA Cup holders Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday

Manchester United captain Katie Zelem is keenly aware both club and family bragging rights will be on the line when she leads out her side at Wembley for Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup final.

The midfielder’s Women’s Super League-leading Red Devils will look to unseat FA Cup holders Chelsea and claim a first major domestic trophy when they meet at the home of English football, which has sold out for the first time in the competition’s history.

It was at the old Wembley where, 34 years ago, Zelem’s dad Alan likes to remind his daughter he was between the posts for Macclesfield when they lost 1-0 to Telford in the FA Trophy final – a milestone the 27-year-old hopes to overtake with a win this weekend.

“He tells me this all the time. That was my dad’s career highlight for sure,” said Zelem. “If you ever get the chance to meet him I’m sure he’ll tell you he played at Wembley in a cup final and unfortunately they got beat. So hopefully it will be a different outcome for us.

“But as soon as we made it to Wembley he texts me saying, ‘you’re always copying me’. Hopefully I’ll be able to dig out a photo of him there and me there.”

Ahead of what is the first women’s FA Cup final to sell out Wembley, Kerr said: “I play this game to score goals and I love the pressure, I love the big games, I love being able to have a moment in the palm of your hands and be able to do something great.

“So I get excited about these games. People are still talking about that Man United last game of the season, and for me that was so exciting. I think it’s exciting when there’s another moment like that on the horizon.”

“That is my plan over the summer with our recruitment and how we go; it’s about making it sustainable so we’re not just a flash in the pan. That’s something I won’t accept for us.

“I’m really happy with our progression because you can see it in the performances and the statistics. Being at Manchester United though, we want to win.

“We are putting in the foundations for that. That’s where the pride comes from.”

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes on her team selection: “We’re in good shape and we’re looking healthy. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t just pick a team of 11 players, it’s about a squad and we like to mix things up in training throughout the week.

“We believe in developing players and developing those combinations, and it’s fair to say the entire squad is at their best level, they’re all prepared, and, for that reason, it’s going to be difficult to pick a team.”

Emma Hayes believes a Wembley sell-out for Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup final is “the new norm”.

Defending champions Chelsea will take on Manchester United in front of an expected 90,000-strong crowd - a record for a women’s domestic club match.

This season has seen many milestones hit in terms of attendances in the Women’s Super League, with teams capitalising on the interest created by England’s European Championship victory.

Hayes is delighted to see her hopes coming to fruition, saying at a pre-match press conference: “Having a sold-out Wembley is just fantastic for the game.

“As a women’s football fan, it means everything to me. I’ve sat here for over 10 years pushing, probing and championing for this because I knew that this day wasn’t too far away.

“With the success of the Lionesses, I knew that there would be no excuses now and I think this is the new norm.”