Chelsea Women's manager Emma Hayes has confirmed that she has undergone a procedure to remove her womb during the international break which means she will miss the Everton game.
Whilst the Lionesses were playing out their two friendlies over the October break, Hayes had personal health issues to deal with involving an ongoing battle with 'endometriosis' which, according to the NHS website, is "a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes."
She confirmed this with her statement on ChelseaFC.com: "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.
"Throughout my absence, Denise Reddy will be making the on-field decisions along with Paul Green who will be carrying out all press obligations on my behalf.
"We have built a tremendous team over many years and we’ve adopted a very multi-disciplinary approach so that if situations like this arise, we are capable of being able to respond to the challenge. We have full confidence in Paul, Denise and all of the staff.
"We also know the team are very special and we have no doubt they’ll do everything to maintain their high standards. To our fans, you’ve had to listen to me bellowing from the other side of the pitch every week but now I want to hear you even louder because I’ll be sitting at home watching the team on the television until my return.
"I know you’ll respect that my health comes first and at this time I’ve got to prioritise what I need to do for me. I fully expect to make a full recovery and I look forward to seeing you in the foreseeable future. All the best, your manager Emma."
Since the statement was released, she has also tweeted out her personal message on her Twitter account @emmahayes1: Time to heal. I’m so grateful for all the support and I will be back soon x [followed by a blue heart emoji].'
The 45-year-old has so far overseen her side drop points on an opening day against Liverpool at Prenton Park but bounced back to record two home wins against Man City and West Ham respectively.
