Having taken four points from six available at the start of the season, the Blues are back at our Kingsmeadow home for an all-London affair against the Hammers on Saturday. Rehanne Skinner’s side come into the game after back-to-back victories in league and cup competition in the past week.

We began the defence of our WSL title with a 2-1 victory over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, which preceded a chaotic encounter away to Manchester City where we emerged with a point thanks to Guro Reiten’s last-gasp equaliser.

Hayes addressed the media at Cobham on Friday and began with an update on player availability for the weekend. The manager is pleased to see relationships developing on the pitch and hopes to build on a solid week of training.

‘Sam Kerr is fit to be available tomorrow,' Hayes confirmed. 'We’ll be without Mia (Fishel) and Guro (Reiten) tomorrow, but otherwise everybody else is fit. We’re unbeaten and that’s what we’ll build on. We’ve had another full week’s training which we need.

‘We need to build the connections and partnerships. We haven’t had some senior players available from the start so looking forward to building on a really good training week.’

On the subject of our opposition, Hayes says we will be made to work for a positive outcome against a West Ham side who have recorded consecutive victories in the last week under their new manager, Skinner, whose sides are always difficult to break down.

‘Many teams play in multiple formations at different phases of the pitch, whether they are with or without the ball. It’s looking at their patterns and how they like to build out, how they like to create chances and equally look at vulnerabilities in areas we can exploit.

‘We’re prepared and we’ve done the analysis on them. I know with Rehanne Skinner’s teams they are always going to be tough to beat so we’re going to have to work hard for a win.’

Tomorrow’s match will be our first league fixture of the season at Kingsmeadow. Hayes is excited to be back playing in front of our passionate supporters and is looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere they generate.

‘I like packed crowds so as long as it’s full, I love it,' added Emma. 'I’m also a bit old school so I love Kingsmeadow and I like the feeling of the crowd on top of you. From where I sit, I can see this section of our longest serving, most ardent fans singing their tunes.

‘You can’t here that in the bigger stadiums, but I for sure can hear it in Kingsmeadow. I love being there and it’s our other home and as long as it’s packed, that’s the main thing.’