McManus On The Road To Recovery, Bedford Reveals

- LCFC Women travel north to meet Manchester City at Academy Stadium on Sunday
- Lydia Bedford spoke to the media in Thursday’s pre-match press conference
- Defender Abbie McManus may be involved against her former club, she revealed
- The centre-back has been out of action since the Foxes faced Everton on 12 March

The Foxes face the fourth-placed Citizens in a 2pm BST kick-off at Academy Stadium as the Barclays FA Women’s Super League gets back underway for the final run-in.

And there was some positive news on the injury front this week, with Leicester’s manager revealing in her pre-match press conference at Belvoir Drive that McManus is closing in on a return to competitive action.

The centre-back has been ruled out since mid-March, missing home defeats to Arsenal and Chelsea, but the international window and a break from action has allowed enough recovery time for her to potentially be involved against the Manchester outfit.

It would be a big boost to welcome back the former Manchester City star and England international, who has played 16 times in the WSL during her first season as a Fox, scoring once, and started 20 of her 21 appearances across all competitions.

The 34-year-old told the media: “A little update on that, we’ve seen Abbie McManus return to the training pitch in the last couple of days. It’s still early days for her but it’s likely that she’ll have at least some involvement in the weekend.”

There is no change elsewhere in the squad, however, with the likes of Kirstie Levell, Lachante Paul, Jess Sigsworth and Hannah Cain remaining out of action through injury.

“Outside of that, most of our long-term injuries are still the same as they have been,” Bedford added. “And we have no other major concerns.”