05 February 2023 , 15:23
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Chelsea manager Emma Hayes claimed Lauren James still has plenty to work on after the Blues secured a 3-2 win against Tottenham.
The Blues moved back to the top of the Women's Super League after edging out Spurs in a cracking London derby, with James scoring the pick of the goals in the first half. The England forward drove through the heart of the hosts' defence to score a superb solo goal, restoring Chelsea's first-half lead after Beth England equalised against her former club.
James was awarded the Barclays Player of the Match award for her energetic, all-action display. However, it still left her manager wanting more. Hayes, who has regularly rotated James in and out of the starting XI in recent months, said post-match there is still plenty the 21-year-old needs to work on.
"Yeah it was a fantastic goal," Hayes said of James' strike, "but she has to learn to do some other things as well. In those last parts of the game, she needs to get back into position. That's for me to deal with, with her. On the ball, she was outstanding, we all know that.
"But, as I keep saying, we need to be patient with her. She needs to be developing both sides of her game."
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While Hayes was delighted to get the three points, she admitted it was a scrappy display from the WSL holders. When Guro Reiten put the visitors 3-1 up on 64 minutes, the game seemed over, but Nikola Karczewska's late strike gave Spurs hope and ensured a nervy ending for the Blues.
Lauren James celebrates with teammate Sam Kerr after scoring the team's second goal (2023 Getty Images)The Chelsea manager was disappointed with conceding twice, labelling her side's defending as "sloppy".
"I thought it was a scrappy performance, a scrappy game," added Hayes. "The pitch made the conditions like that. In the first half, we didn't have the control we wanted and played ourselves into trouble.
"It was one of those games where, you know, across the course of the season, you have to grind out a result and the important thing was the three points. Was it perfect? No.
"But we did enough for that to happen. They (Tottenham's goals) were sloppy. They were goals we could have prevented, it was a result of us switching off. We can control those things and we have to be mindful of that.
"But, I'll say it again, this is a tough league. Anyone who thinks that it is going to be, near perfect performances, it's not. It's going to be a grind to the end and I'm just really happy to have the three points."
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