The Blues showed sheer character last night and responded emphatically to get a victory following an early set back which saw Sophie Ingle leave the pitch after the referee issued a red card following a foul in the box.When asked her thoughts on the game, Hayes said: ‘I have to put it into context. If this would’ve happened two years ago, what would have happened? I don’t know the answer to that, but it would certainly pose more questions than it would answers.‘Whether it’s Magda being out, Sophie having to play centre-back and then getting sent off, which then poses another question to the team – they all rose to the challenge.‘It proves you have to be prepared for the unthinkable, be calm under pressure and make sure you deliver on all the things that are trained in great detail. These are top, top players and I am very proud of them.’

Hayes’ players went against the odds and completely turned the game around in the second half thanks to Maren Mjelde converting from the spot and Fran Kirby finishing an effort beyond former Blues goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl.‘You go to work every day to prepare your team for games, and you also have to prepare teams for unexpected moments, whether that’s going down to 10 players, conceding a penalty, making changes that are not necessarily the ones you’d expect to make at that time of the game,’ Hayes noted.‘Three words: discipline, structure, game-management. They are the three things this team are built around, but I have a group of leaders that cope with difficult moments.‘You really have to credit my team for the performance, because that’s not easy to do for 80 minutes and still win the game.’

It was goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger who was really the star of the show having saved two penalties, and had that not have been the case, it could have been a completely different story going into next week’s away leg.‘Listen, goalkeepers don’t get spoken about enough. She’s had a dramatic evening – two penalties, two saves, a kick in the head by her own player,’ Hayes said.‘Her all-round performance was outstanding and everybody will tell you, and the stats back it up, she’s the best shot-stopper in the league and her ability facing penalties is second to none.‘Everybody within our squad tells me she’s extremely difficult to beat. Even though I don’t want to single anyone out, Ann Berger deserves it. She was absolutely brilliant.’

Hayes had to make a tactical change following the early sending off which meant Bethany England made way for Niamh Charles and the Chelsea boss explained her reasoning behind the substitution.‘I went for Sam’s pace on the counter, one-v-one, as opposed to Beth’s hold-up play, which I felt we had with Pernille.‘It’s really tough on Beth in that moment, but it was the right decision, especially with the penalty Sam drew for the team in the second half. Nothing against Beth, just one of the forwards had to come off.’

Prior to Wednesday’s trip to Italy for the second leg of this round of 16 tie, Chelsea have a London derby against West Ham in the Women’s Super League and Hayes expects a difficult encounter in the east of the capital.‘It will be tough, really tough. The new manager is running them hard and developing a very aggressive unit that will be tough to break down.‘It’s a difficult stadium to go to and I know the threats. I felt that even in the second half of the Continental Cup tie when we beat them.‘I respect every opponent and I never take any game for granted. I prepare for every game like it’s a Champions League final.’The FA have announced this morning that the 2020/21 Vitality Women’s FA Cup will recommence at the end of this month. The competition was paused in January at the second round after the country went into its third lockdown, with all ‘non-elite’ football suspended as a result.The Blues come into the competition in the fourth round and the tie has been confirmed for Sunday 18 April against London City Lionesses. The match will take place at Kingsmeadow with a 2pm kick-off.Chelsea’s next game on Sunday against West Ham kicks off at 3pm at the Chigwell Construction Stadium and the match will be available to watch on the FA Player. The Blues will then travel to Monza in Italy for the second leg of our round of 16 Champions League game against Atletico Madrid and that games kicks off at 12:30pm (UK) and can be watched on BT Sport.