The 24-year-old netted six goal in three outings in the month, all of them cup games, including a hat-trick at home to Liverpool Ladies which helped secure a place in the semi-finals of the Continental Tyres Cup.

‘I think I’ve performed positively,’ said Kirby on receiving the award. ‘I’ve scored a few goals, I was happy with the way I was performing and it was probably the best month I’ve had at Chelsea this season. Overall, I was really happy with how I performed and also as a team we got some really good results in that time period so it was a really positive month. Hopefully I can continue that form throughout the year.

‘Scoring a hat-trick against Liverpool was a really big moment for me. It was only my second hat-trick for the club. It’s been nice to get a run of games as well, with my injury I’ve been in and out so it’s been nice to play consecutively on the bounce and also get the hat-trick.'