The Blues had to be patient early on against a deep-lying and compact Spurs outfit, but once Erin Cuthbert made the breakthrough shortly before half-time there was only ever going to be one winner. It finished 3-1 to Chelsea, Tottenham’s goal a 94th-minute consolation scored by ex-Blue Drew Spence.

Hayes spoke to us afterwards about the key to establishing our dominance.

‘It took us about 30 minutes to find a rhythm,’ she said.

‘They went to five at the back so we had to adapt. After that, until half-time, we started to take control of the game. Second half we were completely dominant, and perhaps could have had more goals.

‘We went down to 10 when we conceded, but I was really impressed with the team’s performance, particularly in the second half.’

Hayes explained she selected a strong starting line-up because she wants to win everything this season, as is always the case. She will wait to hear who we will play in the semi-finals from assistant Paul Green later today, with Talksport 2 broadcasting the draw live at 4.30pm.

The next match action sees us come up against Liverpool in the Women’s FA Cup on Sunday, and Hayes is confident history won’t repeat itself after the disappointment of last weekend’s abandoned fixture at Kingsmeadow.

‘We’re excited to hopefully play this game! I know we had the situation last week and I know it’s going to be warmer, so I expect the game to go ahead.

‘I’m looking forward to seeing the fans during the game this time!’