Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says that she is mindful of Aston Villa’s difficult start to the season and she believes that The Villans will bring an aggressive challenge this weekend.
The Blues travel to The Poundland Bescot Stadium to face Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime. The hosts are yet to pick up a point in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Chelsea boss Hayes expressed caution at Aston Villa’s recent form and she believes that her side will face a difficult test in the Midlands.
“They’re always the type of opponent that you should be the most mindful of,” Hayes said. “They will be disappointed with their start to the season but their games have all been pretty close, so it’s fine margins.
“They’re at home and have a couple of key players back and I think they’ll throw everything at us. It’ll be an aggressive performance from them and they will commit bodies forward. They’ll be aggressive in the press, I don’t expect them to sit in a low block, five back. I think you’ll see a different side to them, my job is to prepare the team for either/or scenario and Carla (Ward) will make sure that her team are ready to play.”
A positive result in Walsall will take Chelsea top of the table, at least for 24 hours. Hayes is not focusing on minor mental victories in the title race at this stage in the season.
She said “For us, it is about maintaining our standards and our aim is to win every game. We don’t compare it to anyone else or put ourselves in competition with anyone else. It is about making sure that we execute the game plan after an international break. When we get one day of training, you know that the whole squad is going to have to be utilised tomorrow.
“I don’t really think about putting pressure on elsewhere.”
Chelsea’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Aston Villa kicks-off at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon.
About The Author
