Chelsea boss Emma Hayes admits she is still unsure which players she will have fit and available for her side’s women’s FA Cup fifth round match with Arsenal on Sunday.
The Blues had 15 internationals away representing their countries last week with top scorer Sam Kerr facing the longest round trip after helping Australia to the Cup of Nations title in her homeland.
Canadian pair Jessie Fleming and Kadeisha Buchanan were also in action and had yet to return home from their trip by the time Hayes spoke to the media on Friday afternoon.
‘They should be back by now but it just shows you the challenges [of the international break],’ said Hayes. ‘They are all flying in from everywhere and I see them as human beings. [After] long haul flights they are not going to be at their best immediately and then they have to perform two days later. You have to give them the maximum amount of time to recover.
‘That’s why you prepare squads which are going to be ready for the whole season. There’s going to be moments like this where you have to make decisions based on those factors and that’s why I’m always advocating a squad.’
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Emma Hayes does not know which players will be available for Chelsea’s meeting with Arsenal
Jessie Fleming and Kadeisha Buchanan had not returned 48 hours before the FA Cup game
Hayes called for consistency in the wake of the Eveliina Summanen and Ella Toone incident
The Chelsea manager was also keen to stress the need for consistency over disciplinary incidents following the fall-out from the decision to hand Tottenham midfielder Eveliina Summanen a two-match ban for ‘successful deception of a match official’ this week.
Summanen clashed with Manchester United’s Ella Toone in the closing stages of their 2-1 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Toone shown a straight red card for her involvement.
The drama didn’t end there, though, with the FA deciding this week that Toone’s red card should be rescinded and that Summanen should face a punishment instead – a decision Hayes says sets a precedent for the rest of the season.
‘All that teams ever ask for is consistency,’ Hayes said. ‘I’m not on the panel but I think there would be plenty of decisions where perhaps we could all have a case for that over the course of a season. All we want is consistency and let’s hope that is the case.
‘Everybody could argue a case for lots of situations. I’m sure there were incidents in that game that some might think deserved more and in other games there might be situations where you get harshly penalised. This is football. But do I think it sets a precedent? Yes.’