Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says that her side are well-aware of how difficult opponents Manchester United could prove to be when the two clubs contest their FA Women’s Continental League Cup semi-final tie at Kingsmeadow this evening.
The Blues have lifted the trophy in consecutive seasons while Manchester United have their eyes set upon reaching a first FA Women’s Continental League Cup final after seeing-off Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Chelsea boss Hayes said that everyone knows that Manchester United are a side who are blossoming the longer that the season goes on.
“I’ve enjoyed watching them all year even when they weren’t getting results early on,” Hayes said. “They’ve got a tremendous group of young players who are coming together – they are confident, aggressive in everything that they do, their style has changed slightly over the season in terms of they play with more width and they are certainly showing their qualities, not just going forward but defensively.
“We know that this is a tough game, there’s the prospect of extra-time and penalties, we totally know that. We watched the game last week against Arsenal and there’s nothing that is going to surprise us, just that we know that it’ll be two good teams competing for a place in the final.”
Hayes went on to explain the challenge that she faces surrounding squad selection. The Blues boss is likely to have just 14 or 15 senior players available for selection at Kingsmeadow this evening.
She said “The reality of the situation is that we’ve played three games in six days and some players haven’t been back out on the grass because they haven’t fully recovered. We are going to give them the maximum amount of time to do that.
“Have we got less numbers? I know that we have got 15, maybe 14. A couple of them need a little bit more recovery time, that’s the reality of the situation. Sam’s (Kerr) back but she has just got off the plane (on Tuesday) so that is going to be really, really difficult. We’ve got a bit of sickness, non-COVID related, so I don’t know what the squad will be.”
The FA Women’s Continental League Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Manchester United kicks-off at 7pm.
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