Sonia Bompastor provided the latest on Naomi Girma’s absence and hinted at a potential Chelsea Women debut for Manaka Matsukubo, as well as further involvement for returning captain Erin Cuthbert.
The Blues face a yet another London derby in the Women’s Super League on Sunday, this time against newly promoted Crystal Palace. We are on a run of five consecutive wins in that competition, the last three of which have all been against sides from the capital – Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Arsenal.
Girma and summer signing Matsukubo both missed those victories due to injury and there was mixed news when Bompastor gave an update on their chances of featuring this weekend in her pre-match press conference on Thursday.
‘I didn't have much information on Naomi before,’ said our head coach. ‘I gave the earlier information before the international break, but actually Naomi is now dealing with a calf injury.
‘I think it will take a few weeks for her to get back, so for now she's just rehabbing. She's in a good place rehabbing and doing the things she has to do and to focus on.
‘We'll see, but I don't have any timeframe for now. I think otherwise I have the full squad available for the game on Sunday.
‘We had a few players who were involved in the Under-18 game and Manaka is also a player who could be in contention for the game on Sunday.’
One player who has already returned to action is Blues skipper Cuthbert, who came off the bench in the 6-2 win over Spurs at Stamford Bridge to make her first appearance since officially inheriting the captain’s armband for this season.
For Bompastor, it seems the Scottish midfielder’s importance to the team cannot be overstated.
‘Erin is our captain, she's important on and off the pitch,’ Sonia explained. ‘I think she brings a lot of energy. I think the quality she has as a player in and out of possession, it's good news she's back with us.
‘In this block we will have to build her up to be able to start a game and to perform for 90 minutes, but we are having a lot of conversations with her. I think getting back to the team, playing 30 minutes in this league, is already a good step.
‘We have a plan for her all through this next block, we'll see what happens, but she's performing at a good level and in training this morning she was again good. I think she will help the team to get good results and to perform.’