Mark Sampson knows nobody will be giving his Bristol Academy side a hope when they travel to Premier League title-chasers Chelsea tonight.

But the manager is optimistic that lack of expectation can work to the underdogs benefit as they look to pull off a shock in their continuing bid to drag themselves away from the National Division's relegation zone.

Bristol fielded an experimental side when they were hammered 8-0 by Chelsea in the League Cup at the start of the month, but also lost 4-0 in October's league meeting – although that game was closer than the scoreline suggests.

"It was a competitive game, but there were key moments in it that didn't go in our favour," said Sampson.

"But nobody will be expecting us to get anything there tonight – especially after they won 5-3 at Everton at the weekend. In a way, it means we have nothing to lose."

Bristol finally lifted themselves off the bottom of the table last week when Grace McCatty's goal earned them a 1-0 win over Birmingham – only their second of the season.

But they slipped up again on Sunday when they went down 2-0 at home to Millwall as goals from Ann-Marie Heatherson and Dionne Lennon earned the Lionesses their first win in seven games.

"We were excellent against Birmingham and my only complaint is that we didn't score the goals we should have," said Sampson.

"We played okay against Doncaster too but conceded an early goal and it is always difficult to get back into it after that – although we created enough chances."

Elsewhere, the weather again took a heavy toll on the local weekend fixture list with a clutch of postponements.

The Gloucestershire FA Women's Challenge Cup was one of the competitions affected, with Downend Flyers, Stoke Lane and Bitton among the clubs who will make a second attempt to play their ties this weekend. Bristol & West cruised through to the third round with a 6-1 win at Tetbury thanks to goals from Carla Thomas, Becky Billing, Tracey Kenyon and Trudy Hammond (2). Emma Payne also scored twice – but one was the own goal that gave Tetbury their consolation.