England boss Sarina Wiegman refused to reveal whether or not Keira Walsh’s knee injury was World Cup-ending as she fielded questions ahead of the final group game against China in Adelaide.
The Lionesses need just a point against the Women’s Asian Cup champions on Tuesday to clinch top spot in Group D, but will have to find a solution for key midfielder Walsh, who was ruled out of at least this clash with an undisclosed knee problem.
A scan on Saturday afternoon confirmed the 26-year-old had not hurt her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in England’s 1-0 victory over Denmark and will remain at their Terrigal base camp for further assessments, but that remains the extent of what Wiegman would disclose.
She said: “Keira is OK. We said that it’s not an ACL and we can’t give you more information. She will not be available tomorrow, and actually we are really only focused on the game tomorrow and after that we will continue what we do.”
Pressed further and asked if there was still hope Walsh could feature again in the World Cup, Wiegman reiterated: “We are just now focusing on China, she’s not available for China, let’s just keep it that way so far.
“I think we have a strong enough team, I think every game we want to be at our best and we know she is not available.
“We had a group of 23, so now we have a group of 22 and we have found solutions, so we’ll show that tomorrow.”
The England boss was more forthcoming when asked about a Chinese side the Lionesses have not faced since twice in 2015, when each team picked up a win, though she did come up against Tuesday’s opponents more recently as coach of her native Netherlands at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
She said: “I think it’s a different team than it was two years ago. It’s a different team, a different coach. They can play a direct style of play. I think they are very well-organised.”
Bayern Munich’s Georgia Stanway brought what felt like some much-welcomed levity to the press conference as the Walsh-shaped cloud loomed over the one-year anniversary of England’s triumph at the European Championship.
While it remains to be seen how Wiegman will line up against China, her immediate solution against Denmark was to bring in Manchester City’s Laura Coombs and drop Stanway back from her more familiar attacking position.
After joking that seeing Wiegman’s family – in England shirts, no less – was a reminder that her boss is “actually human”, Stanway said of Walsh: “It’s always difficult in that moment to see your team-mate, but my best friend as well, to go down in such pain.
“For the first second she was telling me to get off, and then within a few minutes we were laughing and I think the funny thing is, that’s the most embarrassing thing for her – the fact that she got stretchered off.
“She wasn’t necessarily thinking about the knee, she was more worried about the whole nation watching her and I think that’s what she was kind of a little more anxious about.
“But she’s in good spirits and we’ve heard from her today and she’s doing well and we just want to support her as much as we can. Like Sarina said, there’s 22 of us now that have got to step up and we’re just excited for tomorrow.
“I’ve played alongside Keira, who is the best teacher without knowing it. So going in tomorrow I think the big change, we just need to communicate in the middle of the pitch.
“The connection that we had between me, Keira and Tooney (Ella Toone) has been easy and it’s been synchronised, so tomorrow will pose a different challenge.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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