It wasn’t so much a stroll as a canter for Emma Hayes’ side who squared up to Willie Kirk’s Leicester City on a night it tipped down at Kingsmeadow.

The Foxes goalie Janina Leitzig had the disheartening task of picking the ball out of her net six times on an evening which saw Chelsea in cruise control ahead of their trip to Wembley on Sunday for their FA Cup Final clash against Man U.

Hayes made six changes from her starting line-up which delivered a resounding 7-0 victory against Everton three days earlier.

A notable absentee watching from the bench was the Blues’ not-so-secret weapon Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder the favoured striker. She did not disappoint, forming a great partnership with winger Guro Reiten.

But it was the Norwegian who scored first on seven minutes, pretty much setting up one-way traffic bar a couple of blips for the rest of the game. Reiten’s strike was followed by Erin Cuthbert’s 50^th goal for the club, and by a brace from Harder before half-time, one from a parried Lauren James shot which she neatly tucked in at the corner post, and another strike which lacked power yet amazingly eluded Leitzig’s outstretched arms.

Chelsea went into the dressing room at half-time, four goals to the good. They kept a clean sheet in the second half despite five changes and added a further two goals to their tally – one from substitute Lauren James and the other from Jelena Cankovic on the 90^th minute.

Chelsea have now won all four of their WSL meetings with Leicester to date, scoring 25 goals while conceding none in return.

Hayes said after the game: “We moved the ball well. We’re coming into form at the right end of the season, and we’ve got nearly a full squad to choose from. We like the rhythm of the game, and we’re in a good place.”

She’ll be hoping the squad retains its new-found rhythm for Sunday’s big match – a chance to lift the first trophy of the season – and to rattle the current WSL leader’s cage.