Chelsea confident: boss Emma Hayes with the club’s élite squad development coach TJ O’Leary, who also helps to run top youth team Kentish Town FC

Published: 1 October, 2015
by STEVE BARNETT

FORMER Parliament Hill School pupil Emma Hayes is just 90 minutes away from officially making Chelsea Ladies the best team in the country. 

If the Blues beat Sunderland in their final game of the season on Sunday they’ll be crowned champions of the Women’s Super League. 

Even a draw could be enough to see Hayes’ side clinch the title depending on what closest challengers Manchester City do in their game against Notts County. 

Victory at Staines Town FC would complete a magnificent campaign for the Camden-born coach, who saw Chelsea make history in August when they won the FA Cup in the first women’s final to be staged at Wembley. 

Reflecting on Sunday’s 4-0 win away at Liverpool, a result that saw the Blues qualify for the 2016 UEFA Women’s Champions League, Hayes insisted that she won’t be feeling the heat this weekend. 

“Firstly, I have to say congratulations to my players for qualifying for the Champions League for the second year in a row, which is not easy to do in this league,” she said. “Liverpool created chances but, as we know in football, it’s about taking them. 

“We created the right opportunities at the right times, and we were clinical. That was the difference between the teams. 

“Working for this club is a pleasure, not a pressure,” Hayes added. 

“We go into the last day of the season two points ahead and with a better goal difference than Manchester City and that’s all we could have asked for.” 

Before Sunday’s demolition job at Liverpool, Hayes said Chelsea had learned from the painful exploits of last season – which saw them miss out on the title on goal-difference. 

“We’re full of confidence, we’re hardened from the experience of last year and we have a dressing room which is ready to cope with leading from the front,” she said. 

“You’d much rather be in our position than in the chasing pack.”