The Blues take on Arsenal this Sunday with the two London rivals separated by just three points at the top of the table. Hayes’s side lead the way, albeit having played a game more, which makes the capital clash even more tantalising with a big crowd expected in N7.

It will be our first outing in over three weeks due to the winter break and follows a warm weather training camp in Spain, which Hayes described as particularly useful in strengthening bonds throughout her group.

‘The warm weather break was lovely,’ she reported. ‘It was a perfect time to go. When you’re away for 12 days from Christmas, it’s the first time we’ve done that. I really valued the time with the squad and I think they did with each other.

‘They had time to interact and spend time together so it was really valuable. Now we’re just settling into the second half of the season.’

‘There’s still Pernille [Harder] and her situation but everyone else is okay,’ she added about the fitness of the squad. Harder is expected to be sidelined for a significant period of time with a hamstring injury sustained during November’s international break playing for her native Denmark.

With the winter transfer window now open, the Blues have moved to sign 18-year-old Japanese forward Maika Hamano from INAC Kobe Leonessa in her home country. The teenager will spend the 2023 campaign on loan with Hammarby IF and Hayes reflected on the decision to test the new signing immediately in Sweden’s top flight.

‘We’re at that stage of our journey now where we recognise that to play at this level is not as simple as making a signing and bringing them into your club,’ she said.

‘That development pathway for the younger player is going to involve preparation that might see them cross borders, whether it’s in Maika’s direction or Jorja Fox out to Brighton or Aggie Beever-Jones [to Everton]. The loan process is one that we should embrace, especially when the development of the league and the top teams within that league has grown exponentially.

‘She’s clever, a special player, but she needs time physically to develop. Coming from INAC to Chelsea is too big a jump. When Ji So-Yun made that jump, she was older and more experienced.

‘It’s a good situation for that player to go and develop under our watchful eye and we can support that. You can’t have an immediate timeframe like will she be back in the summer. I don’t know. We have to see how she copes with Sweden first but I know we have a bright prospect for the future.’

Hayes does not expect any further arrivals this month and hailed the return of Melanie Leupolz from maternity leave as almost equivalent to a new signing.

‘Doing business in January isn’t our preference,’ she said. ‘We prefer strategically to work in the June transfer window and our work is about getting that part done. Melanie Leupolz is a new signing, it feels like that having watched her today in training. It’s not going to take her very long.

‘Can I envisage another player through the door? Not really. However things do happen in football and if something presented itself then maybe but I can’t really see it.’

Hayes’s squad has been reduced in size with the departure of Bethany England across London to Tottenham and Hayes finished by explaining the decision to let the Lionesses striker leave.

‘Beth is a top player but every one of my players are too good to sit on the bench,’ she added. ‘Finding the right time for a player and a club to move in another direction isn’t always simple. It was the right time for us and the right time for her.

‘We have players that can fill that – Fran Kirby, Lauren James, who can play down the middle. Of course it would be even better if we could have Beth England as well but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right thing to do for her and us.

‘I wish Beth well but I also know that we’ve got a lot of top players also driving me mad every day to play. I can only pick 11 and managing that is challenging so it probably gives me one less headache.’