Braces from Guro Reiten, Bethany England and Sam Kerr and strikes from Aniek Nouwen, Lauren James and Jessie Fleming saw the Blues emphatically beat Leicester at the King Power Stadium yesterday afternoon.

Hayes’ side are now one point above Arsenal having played equal games with five games remaining in the league this season.

Speaking at full-time, Hayes said: ‘We were clinical, especially in the first half – we scored with every chance we created.

‘Our execution and game plan was first class, everybody had a good game including those from the bench and backs up what was a great training week.

‘It was relentless, it was ruthless, it was consistent throughout the whole 90 minutes – that’s the most pleasing thing.

‘Sometimes these types of opponents, whether you take a lead or not, you struggle to break them down. I thought we did that to perfection, things we’ve been working at came out in the performance.

‘We’ve got depth, that’s the difference – depth drives the standards in training every day and a result of that standard going up, we’re seeing it in games.’

‘The fact that we’re without Fran [Kirby], without Pernille [Harder] and we still have the depth to compete like we are is a real testament to the whole group.’

The boss was full of praise for James, who scored her first goal in Chelsea colours.

‘I’ve made no secret of the time we’ve taken to get her to that place, there’s a reason for it and perfect timing to get her first goal. It was a superb cameo from her when she came into the game.’

Following the result Chelsea now sit at the summit of the WSL for the first time this season. When asked whether that changes anything, Hayes added: ‘I don’t think it changes, we’ve always known what we need to do. Does the position alter that? No. What’s changed tomorrow? Nothing.

‘It’s an amazing result, if you’d have asked me before the game I’d have taken the result, of course I would. We just have to focus on winning every game. We win every game, we win the title, that’s it.’

The Blues are back at Kingsmeadow on Sunday when we host Reading in the WSL. Our clash against the Royals kicks off at 6.45pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.