Beth Mead seems doubtless to make her long-awaited return to Arsenal’s matchday squad when the Gunners host Aston Villa on the Emirates on Sunday, boss Jonas Eidevall confirmed.
The England ahead, who received the Golden Boot in the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 triumph, has not performed for membership or nation since rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) late final November.
Mead faces one ultimate coaching session earlier than her health for Arsenal’s third assembly of the brand new Women’s Super League season is confirmed, however the 28-year-old’s supervisor was feeling optimistic after seeing her put by way of her paces on Friday morning.
Eidevall stated: “In order to, for squad choice, we have now yet one more coaching to go. If she goes by way of that coaching she must be 100 per cent prepared for squad choice.
Preparing for Aston Villa, @bmeado9
Tickets for Sunday at Emirates Stadium are nonetheless accessible
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) October 12, 2023
“She has a lovely energy, she plays the game with both her right and left foot with really good attacking qualities too. We all know that Beth Mead is a quality football player, so of course we are really looking forward to having her back on the pitch again.”
Mead, whose injury dominated her out of this summer time’s World Cup, was one in every of 4 of Eidevall’s gamers to maintain an ACL drawback final season, drawing additional consideration to what many really feel is a disaster dealing with girls’s soccer, the place the difficulty is alarmingly frequent.
Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema joined the ‘ACL club’ a month after her team-mate and associate Mead however can also be edging shut to a comeback, stated Eidevall, whereas Leah Williamson, who captained England to the European trophy, won’t function till after Christmas on the earliest.
Defender Laura Wienroither ruptured her ACL in May, whereas fellow defender Teyah Goldie grew to become the fifth sufferer when she suffered the identical concern in August.
Eidevall stated: “Viv has returned to crew coaching, which is very nice, so clearly the following factor from crew coaching is to begin enjoying in video games, if that’s pleasant video games or inner video games behind closed doorways and so forth.
“That’s the next step, and from there on obviously you’re not miles away from being able to be selected to be in the squad, so she’s definitely getting close.”
While the unlucky quintuplet of team-mates have been ready to assist one another by way of the lengthy restoration course of, Eidevall and his workers don’t imagine in a one-size-fits-all strategy.
He added: “Unfortunately we have now a gaggle of gamers that went by way of the identical factor. I feel, although, on the finish of the day you want to deal with your issues your self, as a result of even when it seems on paper that you’ve the identical injury, it’s by no means precisely the identical.
“There are always differences. There can be similarities and yes you can help, but at the end of the day everything is going to be unique to you as an individual. I try to be very mindful of treating people with similar injuries like a package.”
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