Chelsea boss Hayes ignoring situation at Birmingham City as her side prepare for latest test | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says that her side will only be focusing on themselves when Birmingham City are the visitors to Kingsmeadow on Sunday.

The visitors sacked head coach Scott Booth in midweek following a poor start to the season and they will arrive in the South under the guidance of interim boss Tony Elliott.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Hayes said that the Birmingham City players will be keen to impress their potential new coach, however, the focus for Chelsea will be on themselves.

“No manager wants to talk about sackings,” Hayes said. “I’ve been sacked in my career and it is tough when you have got to pay bills and look after whoever in your life.

“I’m always sorry to see a manager lose their job but for us, it is about what we do, we have to get ourselves right not put any attention on the opponent at the weekend.

“Of course, they are going to have a lift, I think this is a time to impress whoever they are trying to impress.”

Birmingham City are likely to try to play with large numbers behind the ball in attempt to prevent Chelsea from playing their usual attacking game but Hayes said that her side will be ready for those tactics.

She said “The bottom line is that we expect them to have everybody behind the ball, you have got to be patient, you have got to break it down.

“I think we prefer to go up against a team that want to go toe-to-toe with you but that’s what you have to face so it is not like we are not prepared for it. We have got to have the right performance and the right mentality to do that.”

The Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture between Chelsea and Birmingham City kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets for the match can be purchased by clicking here.