Charlton Athletic Ladies head coach Riteesh Mishra revelled in the chance to pick the brains of those behind SSE Women’s FA Cup success at Manchester City.

Mishra and his coaching team at the FA Women’s Premier League side were invited to City’s Etihad Campus to share wisdom with the backroom staff at the FA Cup holders.

The Addicks chief, leading his troops into a fifth-round tie at Cardiff City this weekend, would relish the chance to pit his coaching wits against Nick Cushing’s side in the quarter-finals.

“I would love to test our ability against a WSL 1 club, one of the big teams to see just how far we’ve come,” he said.

“We were fortunate to spend a day at the Etihad Campus, watching City train and spending some time chatting to Nick – they’ve got a model you have to aspire to.

“Of course they’ve got fantastic resources – they have the best of everything – but underlying that they’ve got good values and principles.

“We’re nowhere close to that but there are some similarities in terms of how we want to try and work, so to get them in the next round would be fantastic.”

Mishra – who joined Athletic in 2014 – presented Charlotte Gurr with the award for player of the fourth round in the SSE Women’s FA Cup.

In her first season at the club, Gurr has scored in every round of the knockout competition and bagged the award for her fine display in the extra-time victory at Blackburn Rovers.

That left Mishra hailing the 28-year-old’s contribution to the progress of his squad, confident this is far from the end of her goal-scoring He said: “We couldn’t be more pleased for Charlotte to win the award and it’s just rewards for how she’s performed in the season so far.

“Her standards on and off the field have taken us to a new level, particularly going forward.

“Charlotte quietly goes around her business and leads through her performances.

“She’s got good experience and has a background of winning – that’s been important to us.”

The UEFA B licensee is juggling a cup run with a Premier South promotion push as the 2005 FA Cup winners look to regain their place at the top table of women’s football.

Despite a tight tussle at the top of their league – they are a point off the summit with a game in hand – the SSE Women’s FA Cup still holds a special place in Charlton hearts.

And Mishra revealed that the announcement the cup’s semi-finals will be televised live on BBC has boosted his players.

“It’s a special feeling when it’s the FA Cup,” he added.

“Having the semis televised is a credit to women’s football and to the FA for proving awareness and enthusiasm has risen. It’s boosted the girls knowing that’s not far away.

“We had a record crowd for our game at the weekend and we’re trying to get as many young girls through the door to watch us.

“The players deserve to be on a platform to show they can compete at the highest level and at the moment, the FA Cup is the best way for us to do that.”

Tickets are now on sale for the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final on Saturday 5th May at Wembley Stadium connected by EE. For more information about tickets and SSE’s involvement in women’s football visit www.sponsorship.sse.com.