Leah Williamson has been unavailable for Arsenal so far this season after sustaining a knee injury over the summer on England duty.
And ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League opener against Lyon, head coach Renee Slegers gave an update on when the centre half will be ready to return.
“Everything is going forward as expected, and the exact timeframe is hard to share at the moment, but we expect her to be and hope to have her back before the winter break,” she said in her pre-match press conference. “Let’s see, but we expect somewhere in November, December that she might be back in full training.
“It’s a day-to-day, week-to-week thing.”
Williamson underwent a small operation to clean up her knee after suffering some swelling.
She had previously had an ACL injury in the same knee, although the issues are not linked.
Slegers: Everyone is available except Leah Williamson
Lotte Wubben-Moy did not train on Monday, but Slegers said she would be available for selection on Tuesday.
“It’s a matchday plus two for us and we look at every individual, what they need to be able to prepare the best way for the game tomorrow, but she’ll be available tomorrow,” she said, referring to Saturday lunchtime’s game against Manchester City, which they lost 3-2.
And asked whether the strapping that Chloe Kelly had been wearing was indicative of an ongoing problem, Slegers said the forward was “100 per cent” ready to play.
“I’m really happy. I think the performance and medical team have been doing such a great job. We have everyone available but Leah Williamson. If you play at the highest level, there’s always things you have to manage. I don’t think there’s any player in the squad walking around feeling all free from pain. You’re always finding your physical edge.
“Sometimes you see players with strappings and players get treatment or they do proactive training in their pre-hab. So everyone is dealing with things. That’s probably the one you see very clearly visualised.”
Arsenal play Lyon at Meadow Park, Borehamwood, on Tuesday, 7th October as they begin their defence of the trophy they won in Lisbon back in May, thanks to a single goal from Stina Blackstenius giving them victory over Barcelona.
They are without a win in their last three matches domestically, drawing 0-0 with Manchester United, 1-1 with Aston Villa, and then losing to Manchester City at the weekend.
