Oxford United defender Riva Casley believes the women’s side’s early season success is down to “hunger” and “hard graft” at the club.
The side are top of the National League Southern Premier and undefeated in all competitions so far this season.
“Every single one of us want the title,” Casley told BBC Radio Oxford.
“I think this year we win the title and go back to the Championship where we belong, and that is felt across the whole club.”
Last season, Oxford finished second and recorded a series of strong performances in the spring to briefly go top of the table in March.
This is their fifth campaign in the third tier of women’s football.
Casley, a former England Under-17 international, came through Oxford’s youth ranks and played for the club when they were in FA Women’s Super League 2 – now known as the Women’s Championship – in 2014.
She went on to play for Millwall and Charlton Athletic before returning to Oxford for a second spell at the beginning of last season.
“So many things have changed since I was at Oxford the first time. When I left it was a really hard time for the club,” added Casley.
“The league wasn’t going the way we wanted and things started falling apart.”