Neil Redfearn admitted the gulf in class was apparent as his Doncaster Rovers Belles were hammered 6-0 at Chelsea in the fifth round of the SSE Women’s FA Cup.

Belles frustrated Chelsea for long periods of the first period, with young goalkeeper Bethan Davies in inspired form to keep the score down and ensure it was 1-0 at half-time – with South Korean Ji So-yun on the scoresheet for the hosts.

But despite Doncaster defending stoutly and Davies making several more impressive stops, Emma Hayes’ side turned the screw in the second period and struck five more times.

Fran Kirby, Drew Spence, a Ramona Bachmann penalty and a brace from substitute Erin Cuthbert gave the home side safe passage to the quarter-finals.

Doncaster are flying at the top of FA WSL 2 but injuries restricted their already trim squad on Sunday, Redfearn admitting the gap between the sides was evident despite a spirited performance from his charges.

“In the first half, we did OK and made it difficult for them – we had a good chance just after half-time at 1-0 and if that had have gone in, it might have made it a bit harder for them,” he said.

“But I thought Chelsea were excellent – the touching, passing and movement – the way they worked the ball up the pitch – they’re a good side.

“We’re a side that’s trying to evolve and get better – we’re doing well in our own league but one of the problems is that we’ve only got a small squad. We were down to ten seniors today, that’s all we’ve got at the moment.

“We’re disappointed, but we’re not down. We knew it would be a tall order with the team we had and the players we had to put out, but we’ll just keep going.”

Doncaster have 23 points from nine league games this season and face Aston Villa on Wednesday hoping to maintain their unbeaten FA WSL 2 campaign and stretch their lead at the top of the table.

And for skipper Leandra Little, it’s about bouncing back from Sunday’s cup exit and refocusing their efforts as quickly as possible.

“We need to bounce back from the loss – we’ve got a big game on Wednesday against Villa and recovery is so important between now and then,” said the centre-back.

“With regards to the league, obviously we want to keep winning because we want to stay top of the division – we know there’s a lot of teams around us who are chasing us and one slip up and they’ll be back in it.”

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.