The Chelsea manager, Emma Hayes, has called for the Continental League Cup to be scrapped and more Women’s Super League matches introduced.

“Get rid of the Continental Cup,” Hayes said before her team’s game in the competition at Crystal Palace on Sunday. “Get rid of it, make more league fixtures. How are we going to get continuity? If you want the Continental Cup play it for Championship [sides]. Sell the Women’s Super League; why are we diluting our product? This competition, that competition. Boom, one league, it’s not difficult.” The League Cup involves the 23 Super League and Championship clubs and a minimum of four group games. A frustration for Hayes is that Chelsea face two away matches in the competition and a league visit to West Ham over the next three weeks, followed by an international weekend. It means a substantial gap between their 2-1 home defeat of Arsenal in front of an impressive 4,149 fans on 13 October and the visit of Manchester United to Kingsmeadow on 17 November. “I have no clue how and why that works out how it does,” Hayes said. The competition has divided opinion in recent years, with the format, scoring (draws go to penalties with one point to the losing team and two to the winning side) and scheduling causing frustration.

Casey Stoney, whose Manchester United side welcome Manchester City to Leigh, is sympathetic to Hayes’s criticisms. “I can understand that,” she said. “You can’t get any continuity in terms of growing your crowd. We’re lucky we’re at home and we’ve got a derby, so I’m not complaining but I can see when you’re trying to grow momentum it’s difficult.

“I remember after the 2015 World Cup and we wanted to capitalise but we didn’t have a home game for nearly eight weeks, so we couldn’t. There are things that still frustrate but I think in terms of league scheduling it’s probably the best we’ve ever seen it, and that’s probably because there’s less international windows as well.” When United entered the Championship last season the new club benefited from the opportunity to play top-tier opposition in the cup. “It was brilliant – we needed it because it meant we could play better teams,” Stoney said. “We’ve got a really difficult group this time: it gives us the opportunity to play Man City three times, Everton three times … Unfortunately some of the other groups are slightlyweighted the other way. I can understand where she’s coming from.”