Millie Turner is loving the high standards demanded of players at Manchester United in their first season in the top flight. “I’ve even got quads for the first time in my life – I’ve never been in better shape,” she says as the team prepare to face Chelsea in a Continental League Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.

Preparation is key. The games are coming thick and fast, and in the Women’s Super League there are no easy wins, as United discovered when they gifted Bristol City their first victory of the season at the start of the month.

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“Last year, in a lot of the games, we probably controlled possession so we could afford to rest on the ball a lot more,” says the full-back Amy Turner (no relation of Millie). “I think certain aspects of our of our game last year were about being relentless and pressing.

“I think now, particularly in the games coming up, we have to be switched on in everything and maybe conserve our energy at certain points in the game. We’re maybe not going to be able to keep the ball as easily as last season. And so I think that’s probably been a big change.”

Recognising that change and coping with it have driven a meticulous attention to the details of player welfare, nutrition and recovery.

“A heavier schedule of fixtures means it definitely comes into play a bit more and obviously these games are a lot more intense so it’s more fatiguing on your body, so we do definitely have to look after ourselves a lot better,” says 23-year-old Millie.

Yoga is one part of that. “Mary Earps is the best, she’s so good; it surprises me, she can do some mad stretches,” Millie says with a laugh. “It’s the one per cents: massages, recovering, eating properly, hydrating properly, doing yoga sessions, all of those things do play a really big part in your recovery and making you in the best shape for the next game.”

Nutrition and sleep are the key recovery areas – “none of us ever slip up,” Millie says with a smile. But sometimes sleep can be the biggest struggle. “Especially after games,” says Amy. “I think that’s the one where everyone struggles, particularly after night games.

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“You have been having caffeine and energy gels and stuff and then trying to trying to sleep is difficult. But we’ve been working with sleep specialists, wearing sleep watches, and they’ve been tracking our sleep.

“He was saying that if you’re stressed, to write a list before you go to bed on what you’ve learned or what you’re going to do tomorrow. As footballers, we get quite stressed about sessions. We overthink sessions; particularly if you’ve had a bad one, you do go to bed thinking: ‘Oh, am I out of the team? Why did I do that today?’”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Amy Turner slides in to tackle Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp. Photograph: Ian Hodgson/PA

Such micro-management of players’ lives might sound intrusive but they have adapted. “It is weird, but I noticed when I got injured, the hardest bit about that was not having a schedule,” Amy says.

“When you’re used to being told you’ve got to be here, you’ve got to eat this, you’ve got to drink this after the training session and all of a sudden you’re on a completely different timetable to everyone else ... It was just really alien to me.”

If there is ever a good time to play Chelsea, it is now. The new recruit Sam Kerr and key midfielder Ji So-yun have departed for Olympic qualifying with Australia and South Korea respectively.

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“I think they are beatable,” says Amy. “If we’re at our best. Playing them away from home early in the season I felt like we had a really good performance. Maybe if we were a bit more clinical that day we could have come away with a point.”

Last season, their first since the team were relaunched, United exited at the same stage to Arsenal. “There’s definitely lessons there that we can take into this game,” Amy says. “And now we have more experienced players that have gone to finals that have won, and have won the Conti Cup. I think that’ll be really important.”