Chelsea 3-1 Man Utd: Emma Hayes praise for Lauren James' hat-trick

Emma Hayes says she has never seen a player capable of doing the things Lauren James can after her hat-trick saw Chelsea to a 3-1 win against Manchester United in the WSL.

James - who the Blues signed from Man Utd in the summer of 2021 - scored a treble at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea restored their three-point lead at the top of the WSL.

She has now scored nine goals in her last five games in what was one of many standout performances for Hayes' side, raising hopes the absence of Sam Kerr will not slow down the Chelsea goal machine.

Unsurprisingly, the 22-year-old came in for high praise from her manager, who said: "I've never seen a player like Lauren do the things she does individually.

"If you get tight to her, she'll roll you. If you drop off of her, next time she makes a move, you think you've got her.

"She's so explosive. She's got a left and a right foot. Often players have got strong sides, but I think she can do it on both feet.

"I was impressed with her whole performance… I thought she carried out the game plan and her role in that to perfection. It changed in the second half with Mia (Fishel) coming out and I think she did that equally as well. She's shown her qualities as a No 9 or No 10 and her finishing was second to none - the quality of that is a natural finisher."

Hayes added to BBC Sport of her forward: "Human beings are not simple. There are a lot of complexities involved with Lauren, but she is a genius footballer. I am happy for her.

"She wanted to demonstrate to the home fans that she could step forward, that she can do it as a 10, and a nine in the second half. Her hold up play is unbelievable.

"Everyone has to take turns in that [replacing Kerr's goals]. Lauren has done that today, Mia (Fishel) came on last week. There are a lot of young players out there that have to shoulder a lot of responsibility as the champions and they handled it superbly."

But Hayes was also keen to stress the how pleased she was with the overall team performance, hailing it as Chelsea's best of the season.

She explained: "I think one of the things we've been talking about in the background, led by and driven by the players, is what is the Chelsea standard? What does that look like in and out of possession? And I think we showed that today.

"So my initial feeling is when you're in a team around you work on something collectively, as we all know, sometimes it doesn't come out the way you want.

"I thought today was our best performance of the season. It looked like the standards we've set, but also it was brave and that included the selection. I'm proud of them."

Skinner: I am absolutely secure in my job

With their defeat at Stamford Bridge, Manchester United are now 10 points behind leaders Chelsea, having finished just two behind the Blues last term.

Some fans in the away end held up 'Skinner out' signs at full-time, with the same also seen during winter break friendlies as they voiced their frustration with the team's performances this season.

When asked how secure he feels in his job after a third WSL defeat of the campaign, Skinner told Sky Sports News: "If you look at how you perform with the resources we have, I am absolutely secure in what I do and how I do it.

"And I thoroughly, with every sinew in my body, believe in my team, believe in what we can do and believe where we will be.

"Nothing is ever perfect in life and we are inclusive of everybody. My sole focus is on my team and how we get better and continue to be better."

Reflecting on the performance - including a penalty that was not given after Leah Galton went down under pressure from Ashley Lawrence - Skinner added: "In the first part of the first half, we were too eager to press Chelsea and allowed them too many spaces.

"That's what Chelsea want - no disrespect - they're a concise team that play through you consistently so we were just chasing them and we needed to get them in.

"We fixed that halfway through the second half and then I felt we were the better team going into the break.

"In the second half, we came out with that same energy, that same commitment. We also agreed at half time that we need to tackle more. The game is fundamentally about the physicality that you have.

"Key things went against us too, I still believe it was a penalty… we need to take the chances in the big games and then it's different.

"We can't sit here and lick our wounds. We know the gap is 10 points, everyone's reminded me, then we've got to play with the energy and commitment that we're ten points behind.

"We've got to see how far we can chase now. You're playing against Chelsea with the depth in squad that they have is enviable for everybody in the league. We need to continue to grow to that level, invest to that level - I know the club are wanting to do that.

"We still have to take moments in games when they come and rely on a little bit of decisions to go for you too.