‘Fit & Raring To Go’ – Pre-West Ham Women Squad Update

- LCFC Women face West Ham United in Burton this Sunday (2pm GMT kick-off)
- Manager Lydia Bedford spoke to the media ahead of the WSL encounter
- The Foxes have no fresh injury concerns and has players returning to fitness

While long-term absentees Lachante Paul and Hannah Cain continue their rehabilitation, goalkeeper Kirstie Levell is back in full training following a knee injury which has kept her out since mid-November.

Georgia Brougham, meanwhile, missed the trip to her former side Birmingham City last Sunday, but returned to the training pitch this week, though City will definitely be without another player for their next Barclays FA Women's Super League clash, through suspension.

“We’re looking really good,” Bedford told the media in Thursday afternoon’s pre-match press conference. “We have no major concerns ahead of the game.

“We’ve got one player who has reached five yellow cards, so has a suspension as a result of that, but everybody else is fit and raring to go.”

While back-to-back victories in two competitions have strengthened City’s position, especially in their bid to retain top-flight status, the manager called on the squad to raise standards even higher in the coming weeks, as they enter a busy period of fixtures.

Competition for places is increasing, with Missy Goodwin and Elysia Boddy joining on permanent deals until the end of the season during the winter transfer window, alongside loanees Freya Gregory and Esther Morgan.

The 34-year-old continued: “Probably one of the biggest challenges on a week-by-week basis at the moment is managing how many players we do have fit and available.

“Everybody wants the opportunities to play and with some of the games that we’ve had, it’s been tricky to provide playing minutes to some players, because the games have almost gone to the last minute.

“With Birmingham last week, we were able to make a few changes, but maybe not as early in the game as we might have done. If we’d have put another goal in the back of the net early in the second half, we could have made some of those changes sooner.

“I think it’s just managing that and trying to keep everyone at the same level because ultimately, come March, April time, we’re going to play some tough teams that will probably require us to rotate and have fit and available players that can last 90 minutes to be competitive with those teams. So, we need to keep everyone fresh.”