Hayes: Kirby has had a really good few days but she won’t return until she is ready

Emma Hayes is hopeful that Fran Kirby is close to making a start in her recovery from a rare virus that has kept her off the training pitch for months but she won’t rush her return.

Speaking after her charges’ 2-0 win against Birmingham at Kingsmeadow on Wednesday night, Hayes said of Kirby: “Her healing means it has no timeline.

”And I think she has being extremely unfortunate to have had a virus that has caused so much inflammation around her heart in particular, that it can take a few months.

“Her body will heal when it’s ready, and that always hard for everybody to hear.

”I think she has had a really good few days, and I think if she ends up having a really good week, then maybe we can make progress next week. But it has to be done when things are perfectly safe for Fran to step on the pitch.

“It’s such an unfortunate virus to get. It’s one of the rarest, virus you can get.

”The virus creates an inflammation on the chest, so imagine you have to do a lot of high intensity running - she needs that inflammation to settle down.”