Khiara Keating's Man City return was impressive enough to earn a Lionesses recall - but can she keep out Chelsea and inspire the Cityzens to a first Women's Champions League semi-final in seven years?

It's been anything but an easy season so far for Keating. There have been some real highs, like Sunday's performance against Chelsea and another outstanding shot-stopping display against Barcelona in December, but also some real lows, with errors in back-to-back league defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal earlier this year standing out.

After City signed Yamashita last summer, then-head coach Gareth Taylor said one of the reasons for her arrival was that the staff wanted to "push and challenge" Keating to kick-on from her breakout campaign. However, the sporadic nature in which he flip-flopped between the two goalkeepers at times can't have been easy for either, and especially not for the dramatically more inexperienced of the pair.

It has been quite a contrast to last season. Keating first made one of City's matchday squads back in the 2020-21 campaign, she made her debut as one of five appearances in all competitions the following year and then, while also spending time on loan at Coventry United in the Championship, played another three City games in the 2022-23 season.

It was all building up to her 2023-24 campaign, which was remarkable. Yes, there were a few errors here and there, but the youngster was largely impressive as City's No.1, becoming the youngest WSL Golden Glove winner in history while establishing herself as a fixture in Wiegman's England squads.

She's had to deal with something entirely different this time around, which can't have been great for her confidence. Indeed, speaking as part of BBC One's coverage of City's clash with Chelsea on Sunday, Steph Houghton, the former City and England captain who is helping out on the staff of interim boss Nick Cushing after his shock return earlier this month, said she'd specifically spoken with Keating ahead of the match, as she prepared to play at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since that disappointing performance against United in January.

"I just knew that she would probably be feeling a little bit nervous coming back to the stadium," Houghton explained. "Look, I think we expect so much of Khiara as a young 'keeper, because of the standards that she set herself last season. I think as a young player coming into a professional environment, doing what she did last season, being the Golden Glove winner, performing, getting an England call-up, there's a lot of pressure on her young shoulders. I just thought, 'You know what, I'm going to actually get around her today', because ultimately, she's been out of the team and there's so much expectation.

"[I was just] like, 'Go and play your normal game', because we know that she's a good 'keeper. Young players are going to have dips in form and today she showed why she's been one of the best keepers in the last couple of seasons, that's for sure."

That's the sort of message that the City squad and staff need to continue to provide Keating with. It's clear that she is a very talented goalkeeper, with a string of wonderful reflex saves keeping her team level on Sunday until almost the very end, only for Erin Cuthbert to pop up with a stoppage time winner.

It's that sort of confidence that Cushing will hope Keating can maintain over the next few weeks, with Yamashita ruled out. Instilling that in the youngster clearly helps, going by her display on Sunday, but perhaps a run of games can, too.

Taylor was the manager who gave Keating her opportunities in the first team and he regularly defended and supported her in the media when things didn't quite go as she would've hoped on the pitch. "Young players are going to make mistakes and it's certainly going to be highlighted more when it's the goalkeeper," Taylor said after City's defeat to Arsenal in February. "If you want to blame someone, then blame me. Blame me. I pick the team."

However, it might be that dropping in and out of that starting XI this season hasn't helped her really show her best self on a regular basis. Keating did make errors last season when she was the starting goalkeeper, but she was much more consistent game-to-game than she has been in her 12 starts to date this term.

This is not just an opportunity for Keating to make her mark with City. That she was recalled to the England squad so quickly by Wiegman this week shows how highly the Lionesses' boss thinks of her and if she can continue to impress in the coming weeks, she could stake a claim for the squad for this summer's Euros.

While Hannah Hampton and Mary Earps are fighting tooth and nail to be England's No.1, it's clear that there is a chance here for Keating to push into that third spot on the roster, which uncapped goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse has had a stronghold on since last summer.

"She's a very talented goalkeeper. We have seen that again this weekend," Wiegman said of Keating on Tuesday. "We want her in our environment. We're getting closer to the Euros, so looking at this camp now, we're also having a look at the Euros. We have brought in four goalkeepers, while in the tournament you can only bring three, and we just want to have those four goalkeepers in our squad and have them in our environment next week."

To stay in the mix for that Euros squad though, Keating's focus must be on Man City. On Thursday, they travel to London to face Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, having won the first game 2-0 last week. "She might be busy again as Chelsea need goals," Houghton said at the weekend. "But ultimately, this [game] will give her confidence."

There are other big matches on the horizon, too. If City can progress, there will be a Champions League semi-final next month to go alongside their FA Cup semi-final. On the penultimate weekend of the WSL season, in which City are still chasing down a European spot, there is also another Manchester derby.

Yamashita will be back in contention to play by the time some of these roll around, but Keating will be determined to make Cushing's decision in that position as difficult as possible when that time comes. "Khiara showed today that she's got more than enough ability to be the No.1 in this team," the coach said on Sunday. If she can produce something similar on Thursday, Man City could be playing a Women's Champions League semi-final again for the first time since 2018.