With the final international break of the season now out the way, it is non-stop club action for the Chelsea Women squad who have trophies in their sight and face an FA Cup semi-final this weekend.

The closing weeks of the 2023/24 campaign have the added poignancy of being the last with Emma Hayes in charge but as she previews Sunday’s clash with Manchester United, our manager is clear the story should not centre on her.

Although admitting she has started to view routine parts of her daily environment differently now she is soon to move on, Hayes stresses she is not sentimental about it.

‘I'm absolutely committed to doing everything I possibly can to help the team achieve these goals and I'm looking forward to the games,’ she said.

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‘The team wants to win for themselves. They want to win for the football club. They want to win for the families. They want to win because they're winners. They're sick to death of what they need to do for me.

‘And that's fair, it's not about me, it's about them and us as a collective making sure we maximise the situations we are in. There are three pieces of silverware up for grabs and I'm very grateful to be in the position to be competing for them.’

Hayes was able to treat the past week-and-a-half as an opportunity to recharge her batteries before today’s return to training, but for many of her players that was not the case. It was therefore good news on the injury front, with all those who went away returning without any new problems.

On captain Millie Bright, unavailable since November, Hayes had an update.

‘Millie was in the [training] group today, so she was doing some basic actions for the group. She has been out a long time so it's unfair to put that pressure on Millie. I don't know when that [return date] will be.

‘We had a 45-minute session today so you can't deliver an awful lot. We'll get to a little more tactical level with 11v11 work tomorrow. We're used to a one-day or one-and-half day build-up and we'll just prepare as we always do.’

Defeat against Arsenal in our most recent match took away the chance of a FA Women’s League Cup triumph in Hayes’ last season, but with another FA Cup final a possibility and having won it five times, she considered how special such an occasion would be for her.

‘I don't think about it because in top-level football you can't run away with those things. I want to do everything I can for the team, in whatever capacity, and as a team we've done so well over multiple years. I've said this many times.

‘I don't think in the last five years any team has played the volume of games we have, let alone the number of finals we've reached, and that takes its toll in so many ways. So I just have so much admiration for the players to keep doing it again and again.

‘I would really hate to be at this stage of the season not competing for anything so I'm happy to be in a place where we've got FA Cup, Champions League and league to still be in. That certainly keeps the group nice and motivated.’