A hat-trick from Pernille Harder and a header from Erin Cuthbert sealed our first win of 2022. The Blues had not played since 16 December prior to yesterday’s game.

Speaking after the win, Hayes said: ‘Oh my goodness, it’s so nice to play a game of football!

‘In the first half it looked like we hadn’t played for a month, we were really rusty. There didn’t seem to be a lot of aggression in and out of possession in our performance – not that there was anything too much wrong, but not our best standard.

‘Second half was completely different. We adapted to what we asked them to do at half-time and it looked much more like us. The quality of the goals, the quality of the performance, we upped our levels and that’s what we needed to do.’

Harder marked her 50th Chelsea appearance with a hat-trick, Hayes was full of praise for the Danish international after a powerful performance.

‘Pernille had a fantastic game. She set the tone from the start, her and Fran’s [Kirby] relationship improved as the game went on. She found a lot of the right spaces especially in the second half, the quality in and out of possession was excellent.’

Cuthbert was also on the scoresheet as the Blues progressed into the semi-final.

‘Right now we need players to step up and contribute more goals to the team and that’s the challenge I’ve set for them behind the scenes, that we need more goals coming from different players and they answered their manager so I’m really happy with the team.’

‘I’m so happy for her!’ Hayes exclaimed. ‘What an energy she’s got, she’s infectious, she’s willing to learn, she’s keen. I’m so happy she made her debut, the girls are happy for her and we’re going to have to because we’ve only got 15 players at the minute.’

It’s a quick turnaround for Hayes’ side as attention turns to Sunday’s Women’s Super League clash away to Brighton & Hove Albion.

‘Brighton has been a tough game for us over the years. It’s important for us that we recover, get our focus on that because I know that we have to start to compete strong in the league again and all of our minds and our attention will go into that game.’

The draw for the semi-final of the Continental Cup will take place live on TalkSport2 from 3.30pm.