Striker Khadija Shaw might miss each legs of Manchester Metropolis’s Champions League quarter-final in opposition to Chelsea due to a muscle damage, revealed interim boss Nick Cushing on Tuesday.
Shaw is certainly dominated out of Wednesday’s first leg on the Joie Stadium with Cushing additionally suggesting the ahead is a doubt for the return match in London subsequent week.
Metropolis’s prime scorer was injured within the defeat to Chelsea within the Ladies’s League Cup closing on Saturday, whereas Japan worldwide Aoba Fujino, who began and scored in that sport, may even be lacking.
“Two significant players,” Cushing mentioned. “But for us, these moments give opportunities to other players.
Fujino equalised in opposition to Chelsea within the League Cup on the weekend
“Both of them are muscle injuries … the problem with these types of injuries, it’s going to take a few days to even diagnose how long the problem is. I think they are significant.”
Pushed on the possibilities of both participant being accessible for the second leg on March 27, Cushing added: “When you have muscle injuries and you can’t diagnose the timeframe, it’s not going to be one you can turn around quickly.”
The League Cup closing was the primary of 4 video games between Chelsea and Metropolis in a outstanding 12-day span. In addition to the two-leg Champions League quarter-final, they meet in a WSL encounter on Sunday.
Kelly absence begins to be felt
Man Metropolis ahead Chloe Kelly is on mortgage at Arsenal
Sky Sports activities’ Anton Toloui:
That is the explanation Manchester Metropolis have been reluctant to see Chloe Kelly depart in January.
The England winger could be the like-for-like substitute for the injured Fujino and her creativity, expertise and purpose risk would ease the burden on the opposite forwards in Shaw’s absence.
Metropolis are nonetheless blessed with expertise, with Jess Park and Kerolin Nicoli accessible to step up from the bench and Vivianne Miedema doubtlessly changing into the beginning No 9.
However Cushing, who described Wednesday’s sport as “bigger” than Saturday’s Subway Cup closing, is aware of he wants as many attacking choices as doable to interrupt down arguably the perfect defence in Europe.
Any crew on the earth would miss a participant as proficient as Shaw. The effectiveness of Cushing’s plan B can be instrumental to Man Metropolis’s success on this intriguing Champions League showdown.
