Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes confirms she's undergone emergency hysterectomy surgery

• Hayes won WSL six times
• Started defence of last season's title
• But won't be on the touchline for a while

WHAT HAPPENED? Chelsea will have to cope without Hayes for an extended period of time. The 45-year-old had to have emergency surgery as a result of her ongoing battle against endometriosis.

WHAT SHE SAID: She wrote in a statement published to the Chelsea website: "Last Tuesday I underwent an emergency hysterectomy following my ongoing battle with endometriosis. I’m now in recovery and will need time and patience to return to full health. I just want to say thank you also to my amazing doctors, Dr Alex Laurence and Dr Sally Harris for their outstanding care. A huge thank you to our owners, the board and our HR director, Jo Stone, for the support they’ve shown and of course all of my family, staff and players."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Hayes will be out of managerial action for some time but has said she expects to make a full recovery. The Chelsea boss confirmed Denise Reddy and Paul Green "will be making the on-field decisions" while she is recovering and called on fans to be "even louder" as she is forced to watch games on television.

STORY IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA? Reddy and Green will now take charge and their first task comes in the shape of a trip to Everton on Sunday where the Blues will be looking to extend their winning run to three games.