Yet Birmingham battled hard, simply lacking a cutting edge with the final ball in the final third, and they did have their chances after the break. Defender Louise Quinn headed onto the roof of the net from the far post at a corner, while Jade Pennock poked narrowly over from Rebecca Holloway’s good left-wing cross.

“The overriding emotion at the moment is we haven’t imposed ourselves on the game how we know we can,” said former Birmingham men’s midfielder Carter. “That final pass, that slide pass, that finish wasn’t there for us today. Those are the little details that we’ve really got to tighten up on.

“This result would never define our season. It gives Leicester the advantage so we’ve got hard work to do. It’s going to hurt the players. Now our mindset has got to be we come back in the new year ready to fight.”

The early stages had seen both teams getting forward frequently, but the first moment of real quality came when Howard curled superbly into the far corner after collecting the ball from Molly Pike on the edge of the penalty area. 

The decisive second goal came from another Pike assist as her corner was met by the head of Tierney, who told Telegraph Sport: “We do think we can stay in this league and hopefully [this result] is a message to the league and people watching that we’re not a team to take lightly.”

Match details

Leicester City (3-4-3): Lambourne; Tierney, McManus, Plumptre; De Graaf, Barker (Brougham, 64), Pike, Howard; Sigsworth, Flint, O’Brien (Devlin, 88)
Subs not used: Bailey-Gayle, Grant, Zajmi, Robinson, Harris
Yellow cards: Plumptre, De Graaf

Birmingham (5-3-2): Hourihan; Finn (Lucy Quinn, 76), Lawley, Louise Quinn, Scott, Holloway; Murray, Sarri, Whipp (Worsey, 85); Pennock (Ryan-Doyle, 76), Smith (Whelan, 67)
Subs not used: Robertson, Ewens, Ramsey, Cowie, Reynolds
Yellow cards: Finn

Referee: Lisa Benn (Sussex)