Tickets are selling well for Chelsea Women's opening Women's Super League fixture of the season, against Spurs at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 1 October at 5.30pm. Click here for information (Chelsea FC website). Prices start at £12, and 33,000 are expected to attend.
Hayes' target is to begin the new campaign with not merely a win, but an emphatic win after a recent series of disappointingly sluggish season starts. "I'm excited and I want to fill the place out if we can," she said. "These players deserve to be playing in front of big crowds, and we have an incredible squad going into the season.
"For us, I know how the first game has been for the last three or four years... so my message will be very clear to the team. We have to start strongly and the last few years we haven't done that. All of our focus is on getting prepared and getting ready for that game."
Maika injury
It hasn't been the ideal start for Japanese striker Maika Hamano, who joined Chelsea Women in January.
Farmed out on loan to the Swedish side Hammarby, she has exacerbated a shoulder injury, been flown back to London and has now undergone a major operation which will put her out of action until next year.
With a plethora of striking options following the return to form and fitness of Fran Kirby, the news isn't an immediate disruption to the longer-term plans of Blues boss Emma Hayes, although Chelsea's medical staff are closely monitoring the 19-year-old's recovery.
Hayes had hoped to allow the forward to develop by playing regular football in Sweden, then weave her into the first team squad in June next year.
World Cup debut
Hamano made her World Cup debut for Japan in the quarter-final defeat to Sweden, saying afterwards: "It was a great honour. I really longed to show what I can do – to help the team and to play my own game. It's very tough that we didn't go the whole way."
Born in Osaka, the frontwoman joined Chelsea from top-flight Japanese outfit Kobe Leonessa on a four-and-a-half-year deal after catching the eye in the U20 world championships with her direct, punchy, have-a-go style.
Happy birthday Sam!
This week saw Blues striker Sam Kerr turn 30 after what, for her, was an impressive personal showing at the World Cup in her native Oz, even if the Matildas couldn't go all the way to glory.
Observers agree that Kerr was head and shoulders the best player in the Australian team, having shaken off an injury that kept her out of the group stage of the tournament, and she has been working with teammate Kirby on reviving the link-up play between the pair while at summer boot camp in the Algarve.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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