Sonia Bompastor has explained why Lucy Bronze was not in the Chelsea squad for the defeat to Manchester City and also gave an update on Aggie Beever-Jones, who received treatment on the pitch late on in the game on Sunday.
The head coach confirmed Bronze had felt pain in the same area she had injured whilst on England duty during the Women’s European Championship in the summer, and for that reason did not make the trip to Manchester.
‘Lucy was not available,’ confirmed Bompastor. ‘She just felt pain in her shin again. We felt it was the right decision for her not to travel, to rest for this game, and we'll assess her again and see how it goes.'
Meanwhile, Beever-Jones was named on the bench for the second consecutive match following her recent injury layoff.
The striker was switched for Keira Walsh in the 73rd minute of Sunday’s match but received treatment late in the game. Bompastor explained what led to that stoppage and why Beever-Jones continued to play.
‘Aggie was coming back from an ankle injury,’ explained the head coach. ‘I think she twisted that same ankle a little bit, and it's probably quite painful for her, but because we had made all the substitutions, she continued to play.
‘I'm hoping that it will be okay, because we need to have players. We already have a lot of injuries, and it doesn't help when you lose players.’