Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has criticised the quality of the playing surface at The Hive ahead of her side’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture against Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon.
Hayes is the latest Barclays FA Women’s Super League manager to have an unfavourable opinion on the pitch at a stadium which Spurs share with Vanarama National League club Barnet.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference, Hayes labelled the pitch as ‘probably the worst in the league’ whilst also commenting that a difficult game is expected against Spurs.
“We are going to play on a tricky pitch, it’s probably the worst pitch in the league,” Hayes said. “That makes things very difficult.
“You’ve seen the fact that they haven’t conceded a lot of goals against the top teams at home so that makes it a difficult game for us. There is an unknown with the fact that we haven’t played them (this season) and the fact that they are an aggressive team with a very good defensive record means that we are going to have to work really hard to earn a win.”
After going unbeaten at home in the league until March, Spurs have lost their last two at The Hive against Manchester City and Aston Villa. Hayes went on to say that she is paying little attention to those losses.
She said “It is always difficult going away from home no matter where you are, they have made it a difficult place to go and the pitch makes it a challenging place to be. Every top team that has gone there has had to work hard to get anything. They are in the position that they are in due to hard work and they are deserving of that. They have our respect and it is my job to get the team right for that.”
Chelsea’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture at Tottenham Hotspur kicks-off at 2.30pm.
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