In a move which could be repeated at other stages of this Covid-skewed season, Chelsea are giving fans currently excluded from Kingsmeadow a ‘free pass’ to the next match.

Next week’s Conti Cup group game against Spurs, on Tuesday November 3 at 7pm, will be streamed live and free on the Chelsea website, YouTube, apps and Facebook.

“We recognise our fans can’t be at Kingsmeadow to support the Blues, so we’ve made the decision to bring all the action direct to every home,” said the club.

The cancellation of the Lionesses’ match in Germany may have left Fran Kirby, Beth England, Millie Bright, Carly Telford and Naimh Charles without international action, but Erin Cuthbert has been playing a key role for Scotland.

She was a pivotal part of the 3-0 victory over Albania, and was in action again in midweek against Finland. But how does she assess Chelsea’s current strength?

“For weeks we’ve been working on our front play, to be ruthless going forward,” she said. “The base of our team is hard work, as a foundation. We’ve got a star-studded team, but first and foremost we’re a team. We all look each other in the eye!”

Chelsea’s men, after drawing 0-0 with Man Utd, travel to Burnley this weekend, with a surfeit of draws denting Frank Lampard’s title ambitions in a season when the Blues could be capitalising on other top teams’ frailties.