Hayes admits players were tired while Spurs boss Skinner laments they did not stick to game plan

By Football Reporter

Chelsea secured three vital WSL points against Spurs tonight at Kingsmeadow that puts the west Londoners closer to retaining their League title.

Head coach Emma Hayes said of the 2-1 victory: “I think it’s so difficult playing the same team in four days, it’s really weird. First half, we had a good tempo. We should have scored more goals.

"I was told that maybe Sam [Kerr] wasn’t offside for her [disallowed]goal, I’ve been told there were maybe penalties. I don’t know, I haven’t looked back. I thought second half, we tired.

"Sunday took its toll, we looked a little leggy. But who cares? We had to see the game out. I think we deserved to win the game. These are the performances that are always part of a season. We did the job, that’s the main thing.

“I have to manage her Pernille Harder. She’a been out. She played 45 minutes the other day in tough circumstances. I managed to get another 70 out of her today. We have to take care of her, she needs to look after her knee.

"She has the Euros coming up as well. It’s her mentality straight from the kick-off. She gets in a great situation, and provided with an amazing assist for Sam. It’s great to have her back.”

Rehanne Skinner, Tottenham manager said : “One of the conversations we had in reference to the last game was, in the second half in particular, we didn’t take care of the ball well enough. We needed to do that for longer spells today.

"I felt we did that. We were calmer, we managed the ball better, we shifted them from side to side, with forward, positive passes that got us into the final third, with a little bit of quality. That helped us get into the game a little bit more.

“I think the challenges were the same we had at half time. Today we’ve scored a goal, got back into the game, and then we’ve conceded within a minute. The game management isn’t good enough. That’s something we didn’t do very well in the second half on Sunday either. There’s loads of positives to take out the game.

"For the next level, the game management piece, is the bit we know we need to improve on. I think defensively, we were outstanding today. We’ve worked hard except for that one mistake. Those are the fine margins that win games.”