Chelsea Ladies manager Emma Hayes says people call her a “role model” because she is female when she wants to be known for her coaching success instead.
Hayes’ team face Arsenal in Saturday’s Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley (17:10 BST), which will be live on BBC One.
The 41-year-old, who is 33 weeks pregnant with twins, will not walk her side out after health advice, but plans to follow the game from the dugout.
She is one of only three female bosses in England’s 10-team top flight.
When asked about being a “female role model” during Chelsea’s pre-match news conference, Hayes replied: “You wouldn’t call [Manchester City Women boss] Nick Cushing a role model.
“You’ll call me one because I’m female.
“While of course I want to influence other females in the game, more importantly I want to be renowned for being good tactically, being an outstanding coach who delivers well on the grass, who gets the best out of my players and who ultimately competes for titles year in, year out.
“It does make it hard when there’s not a lot of us [women] doing it, but we have to remove the gender-specific conversation about it. I just see myself as a coach.”