UPDATE: Chelsea players wear ‘Get well soon Emma’ Hayes t-shirts for women’s team manager

The male and female Chelsea players showed emotional support for the women’s team manager, Emma Hayes who underwent an emergency hysterectomy last week.

The men’s players wore ‘Get well soon, Emma’ t-shirts in a collective show of support for Hayes during their pre-match warm-up ahead of their Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Sunday.

In the same vein, the women’s side showed displayed emotional care for their manager, who is recovering from an operation, ahead of their Women’s Super League meeting with Everton.

Hayes, who has been in charge of the London club for 10 years, announced last week that she was taking some time away from the game as she returns to full health.

The 45-year-old manager underwent an emergency hysterectomy last week amid an ongoing battle with endometriosis. Assistant manager Paul Green and assistant coach Denise Reddy have taken charge of the team for the foreseeable future until Hayes makes a return.

Hayes said in a statement on Thursday: “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.”