Despite Newcastle United Women's strong start to the 2022/23 season, manager Becky Langley is urging caution when it comes to a title challenge in the FA Women's National League Division One North.
The Lady Magpies go into their final fixture of the calendar year this Sunday, hosting Merseyrail Ladies at Kingston Park (kick-off 2pm GMT).
And while she acknowledges that her side has been impressive in the run-up to the new year, Langley insists United mustn't get ahead of themselves and simply focus on each game as it comes.
"Our preparations remain very similar," the Newcastle boss said to nufc.co.uk ahead of Sunday's fixture.
"We set new objectives each week that we work towards. We are looking to build on a good effort against Wolves. It was good to see Kacie (Elson) get on the scoresheet and Katie Barker in particular was outstanding in terms of her work rate.
"We are just looking to perform again and come away with the three points."
Merseyrail were Newcastle Women's first opponents of the season back in August, when Langley's side came from behind to triumph 4-1 in the North West.
While United can take some confidence from that result, the Newcastle manager says her players must prepare correctly to come away with another victory.
"Our ambitions and our priorities are just to win the next game," she said. "That has to be the message.
"We can keep shouting from the rooftops that we want to win the league, but we have to do the work in between. We just need to keep focusing on our next game."
With 2022 coming to an end, Langley says she's pleased with the way the Lady Magpies have performed in the first part of the season, and she’s excited to have some members of her squad returning from injury in the new year.
"I think we've been consistent throughout the start of the league campaign," she said. "We've lost two games where there was only one goal in it, so we've just got to ensure that we are tightening the gap and that we keep improving in every single session and every single match.
"We are just focused on enjoying our football and continuing to improve.
She added: "It's been great to see Anna Soulsby, Rachel Lee and Ellen Packham all out on the pitch running and doing technical practices. I know Erin Nelson is also coming back early on in the new year, so it's really pleasing to see that the girls' rehab and hard work are paying off.
"I'm really looking forward to having them back on the pitch in 2023 and continuing to kick on as a team."