Chelsea will be without record signing Mayra Ramirez for Friday’s Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal due to injury.
Fellow forwards Lauren James and Fran Kirby are also doubts for the fixture, with the former struggling with illness, while defender Nathalie Bjorn remains sidelined.
Defender Maren Mjelde and goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who have both not featured in the WSL since December’s reverse fixture, are also expected to miss out.
Hayes attributed the volume of injuries to game accumulation and said the congested schedule had left her squad “at breaking point”.
“We’ll have no Ramirez, no Bjorn,” said manager Emma Hayes. “Maybe no Fran Kirby. Lauren James has been sick. (No) Maren Mjeldee, no Ann-Katrin Berger. There’s a big treatment room at this moment in time.”
Chelsea signed Ramirez from Levante for a fee of €450,000 in January, but she was forced off during last week’s Continental Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City and was missing from the squad for the weekend’s FA Cup clash with Everton.
Her absence, alongside the question marks over James and Kirby, adds to Chelsea’s shortage of forward options for Friday’s fixture at Stamford Bridge, after Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel suffered season-ending anterior cruciate ligament…
