The Blues are back from international action and Hayes is preparing her side for the challenge of Arsenal in a repeat of last year’s final.

Speaking at Cobham this afternoon, Hayes said: This is what you go to work for, these moments, these privileged positions and there’s nothing better than competing for a place to play in an FA Cup final.

‘Playing against Arsenal we’ve had a lot of battles over the years, I certainly enjoy those games and always look forward to taking on another top team.’

‘I always think the game after international break makes things a lot more unpredictable. Normally you get a week build or you’re in the momentum with your team.

‘When you’ve only got one training session when you get back together and you have to try and re-build your momentum… you’ve seen so often after international break, team performances can take a little bit more time to gel.’

The squad had their first training session back at Cobham today. While Hayes was unable to provide a full fitness update, the boss did reveal that Pernille Harder will be available for selection again.

‘Not everybody is in full training today because they’ve been on different travels. Pernille will be back, that I know, but with regards to team selection I don’t do that until matchday minus one because of the nature of international breaks meaning that some of them are still recovering from their games.’

The boss also provided an update on Fran Kirby, reporting: 'No chance of her playing at the weekend. She’s been taking some time in the background, been suffering with a lot of fatigue.

‘I don’t have a definitive reason why that is, we don’t know but we’re trying to get to the bottom of it and taking the time we can to try and find the right solutions for Fran. This is something that’s been ongoing and unfortunately until we get to the bottom of it Fran won’t be available for selection.'

Hayes’ side have been in fine form since the turn of the new year and in the last five fixtures have kept five clean sheets and scored 23 goals.

‘We’re hitting top form but this is a cup semi-final, this is two really good sides that have battled it out all year in the league, cups, I don’t think there’s any difference in what that is.’

It’s set to be a sell-out crowd at Meadow Park in Borehamwood on Sunday afternoon, but Hayes believes the team will know exactly what to do when they step on the pitch.

‘They’re playing at home but we’ve been in this position enough times to know what we need to do and my focus is making sure that everybody’s job is well understood in and out of possession and leave the players to get on with it. We’ve got a top group of players in here that are really producing top performances at the right time of the season.‘I’m so used to being in this position. You don’t pick and choose which games you want to try and show up for, you have to do it for every game. While one is talked about as a higher pecking order over another, for us it’s just another game in our quest to try and win trophies.

‘The players have really developed into being a really top, professional team that compete on all fronts every year and this is the place we want to be in, we want to be competing to make the FA Cup final again.

‘We’re holders and we want to hold on to that.

‘There’ve been good battles between us and Arsenal over the years. Arsenal have had a tremendous season, they really have. We’ve been going neck and neck in every competition with them the whole way, they’re at home, sold out… we’re going to have to suffer at points in the game and I’m sure with the threats we’ve got we will cause problems.

‘It’s important for the team to remember previous results are not indicative of future performance.’

Sunday’s clash with the Gunners kicks off at 12:30pm and will be broadcast live on BBC Two. Fans can follow all the build-up to Sunday’s game on our social media @ChelseaFCW.