Chelsea boss Emma Hayes says that she is expecting her side to come up against a much-improved Leicester City outfit this afternoon.
The Blues take on The Foxes in a Vitality Women’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Kingsmeadow, a place in the quarter-finals is up for grabs for the winners.
Leicester City have spent most of the season in a relegation battle in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League but they go into this weekend’s match on a three-game winning streak in all competitions. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Chelsea boss Hayes acknowledged the improvements made by her side’s latest opponents.
“Really good, the fact that they’ve won four of their last five just shows progression,” Hayes said. “They’ve been solid defensively but very strong on the counter attack. They commit numbers into the box and I think she (Lydia Bedford) has added another layer to them going forward.
“I’ve said to the squad that it’s so critical that we respect every opponent that we play and that this is a different Leicester team than the one that we played earlier in the season.”
Recent results have pulled Leicester City away from the lower reaches of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League table and the club are now in a better position to enjoy a cup run. Hayes went on to say that The Foxes will be well-prepared for this weekend’s match.
She said “I don’t know how many players they’ve had away during the international break but I doubt that it is anywhere near the number we have, they’ll be preparing for this game at a really high level.
“As I said, I don’t underestimate them, I think their form has been the best it has been and they come here in a confident place. I know where their threats are but we have a plan of how we are going to go about breaking them down. We’ve only had one training session but I thought the players were brilliant.”
The Vitality Women’s FA Cup fifth round tie between Chelsea and Leicester City kicks-off at 1pm. Tickets for the match are on sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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