BROMSGROVE footballer Chloe Peplow is hoping to use the experience of a last-gasp victory to spur her on when she takes to the field in a cup semi-final for Birmingham City.

The FA Women’s Super League Division One side are in Continental Cup action against second division outfit London Bees, with a place in the final the prize for the triumphant side at The Hive this weekend.

And the 17-year-old, in just her first professional season, is gearing up for one of the biggest games of her young career to date but is desperate to make sure the excitement doesn’t get the better of her.

“The whole team was buzzing, getting through to the semi-finals is an unreal feeling, and now we’re thinking about the possibility of making the Continental Cup final,” said former South Bromsgrove High School student Peplow, who benefits from funding via the SSE Next Generation programme.

“It will be a tough game against the Bees, we’re quite similar teams and it certainly won’t be a walkover, you can’t go into the game with that attitude and it will certainly be difficult.”

Coming through the Birmingham academy, Peplow has also enjoyed the experience of training camps and matches, with both club and national support helping her through a BTEC at Solihull college.

It’s an experience Peplow herself is grateful for since securing a professional deal back in January, admitting that the excitement of the 120th-minute extra-time winner against Liverpool in the quarter-finals is still something which is yet to sink in.

“My time here has been really enjoyable, but it was difficult to begin with,” said Peplow. “It was a really close game (against Liverpool), extremely nerve-racking and for us to steal it in the 120th minute was such a surreal experience.

It was tight the whole way through, it was pretty much nailed on for penalties which we didn’t really want as we were knocked out of the other cup on penalties, so to score that last-minute winner was an incredible feeling.”

SSE’s Next Generation programme partners with SportsAid to provide financial support and training to the sports stars of the future. Keep up to date with the latest @SSENext Gen.