The Blues currently sit top of the Barclays Women’s Super League table, with Chelsea one place and one point behind leading up to Saturday’s 17:30 (UK) clash at Stamford Bridge.
Hemp missed Tuesday’s 2-0 UEFA Women’s Champions League win over Hammarby and the boss revealed that her condition needed further assessments after that victory.
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Aleixandri’s injury, meanwhile, was picked up during the October international break and has ruled her out since then, with Layzell sidelined since our 2-0 win over Barcelona at the Joie Stadium.
But the boss suggested they could be back in contention heading into this weekend’s encounter.
On Hemp, Taylor said: “We won’t know until tomorrow. There’s a chance she could be so we’re positive at the moment.
“I spoke to the medical staff today, we had a mixed training practice so a lot of players are still recovering.
“We’ll find out tomorrow if Lauren can take part.
“[It’s] Just a knee issue. I think the action happened against Crystal Palace.
“At the time she didn’t think it was anything too much. We had a decent period of time from playing on the Sunday to playing on the Friday at the Etihad.
“She played in that game with no major issues apart from a slight niggle. We have had to manage her load since that game against Spurs and took her out of Hammarby.
“There’s a chance tomorrow she’ll train and play at the weekend which is good but we’ll see with the medical staff.”
On Aleixandri and Layzell, he added: “[They’re] Closer.
“We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see.
“They’re progressing a lot quicker than we anticipated so there’s an outside chance.”
There was positive news from the boss on Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw though, who was replaced late on against Hammarby.
The Jamaican had received treatment for a knock during the 2-0 win on Tuesday evening, but Taylor insists there’s no cause for concern.
He said: “Yeah, Bunny is fine. She trained today, no problem.
“I was really impressed with Bunny the other evening, she was really important in gaining the result.
“Okay, she didn’t score, but for us it’s not just about goals, she does a lot of things defensively, and sets off our press really well, gives energy to the team and clears a lot of balls in the defensive moments.
“Her and Alanna [Kennedy] are vital because they give us the size and aerial power we look for.
“Bunny’s fine, she takes the knocks and likes the duels between her and the centre-backs which is great.
“She takes a lot of the pressure away that helps the rest of the team.”
