Hayes admits James not in a good place after online abuse

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes admits Lauren James' mental health has suffered after being subjected to racist abuse online.

Blues ace James, 22, was targeted by trolls following her side's 4-1 Women's Super League loss to Arsenal having appeared to stamp on Gunners midfielder Lia Walti.

Her club condemned the abuse in a statement on Tuesday and now Hayes, speaking ahead of the Blues' Champions League clash with Swedish side Hacken tomorrow night, has opened up on her forward's current state.

Hayes said: "She's not in a great place if I'm honest.

"Of course, every opponent tries everything possible to get Lauren red-carded. That's been clear in every game we've played and she has to learn to handle that.

“When she gets antagonised in a certain way, managing emotions comes with maturity and that isn't there yet with her.

"It reminds me very much of David Beckham in many ways when he got red-carded in the World Cup.

“I think the treatment of Lauren is sometimes very similar and I think we have to realise for a young person, in a day and age when social media is unbelievably vitriolic, some of the nasty language and labelling and name-calling goes over the edge.

"And if you add racism to that for her, you can understand why her mental health is not in a very good place this week."

As a result, it remains unclear whether James will be involved against Hacken, who have won their opening two Champions League matches.

Hayes insists there is no chance her side will underestimate their visitors.

She said: "We know that they'll cause us problems, particularly in transition. 

"They are a very atypical Swedish team in the way they defend in a 4-1-4-1. They'll make it difficult for us to have the inside of the pitch so we need to have variety in our play.

"We only had one day preparation time but we're used to doing this and we don’t take them lightly.

"I know the team is switched on, trained really well today, and our focus is all on tomorrow evening."