‘Women’s internationals scheduling should be same as the men,’ claims Hayes

Emma Hayes feels that women’s international scheduling should follow that of the men.

Having only got some of her players back late in the week following playing for their countries, Chelsea had little time to prepare for Sunday’s clash against Arsenal.

They won 2-1 but at a cost as South Korea midfielder Ji So-Yun limped off midway in the second half.

Hayes feels that it might only be cramp that JI is suffered from, although she had a big ice bag on he left calf after the game.

“This is a player who flew to America and played two games,” said Hayes.

“The demands on the players are more and more. The women’s internationals have to be like the men, play on a Friday, play on a Monday.

“For both sets of players. My Norway players had four sets of flights. It’s difficult to ask them to do that on a Wednesday and then have to recover on a Thursday.

“I believe in putting out a good product and we have done that. But it would be even better if we were fresher.”