England to battle through growing injury list – Mary Earps

England goalkeeper Mary Earps mentioned the group will proceed battling on regardless of their growing injury list and has referred to as for extra analysis to be finished on the spate of ACL accidents in girls’s soccer.

England’s 1-0 win over Denmark on Friday was overshadowed by an injury within the first half to their star midfielder Keira Walsh. The Barcelona midfielder injured her proper knee within the thirty fifth minute and was stretchered off.

The FA has since confirmed Walsh has prevented an ACL injury, however will miss their subsequent group stage match in opposition to China on Tuesday with the remainder of her World Cup doubtful.

Walsh’s injury is the most recent setback for England with the Lionesses battling a growing injury list. They got here into this event with out Fran Kirby, Leah Williamson and Beth Mead — all three sidelined with knee accidents. Despite the growing list of star absentees, Earps is adamant the group will battle on.

“We are a resilient group,” Earps mentioned on Friday after the win. “We’re going to keep going and fighting and put our best foot forward as we always do.”

When requested if the accidents can act as a galvanizing impact, Earps mentioned: “Absolutely. I think you’ve seen that through the adversity we’ve faced coming into the tournament. I feel like we are a group that’s together.”

Rachel Daly echoed Earps’ sentiments.

“This group is special, it’s got some unbelievable characters, it’s not just about what you see in performances on the pitch, the girls off the pitch are just special, special people, the staff as well,” Daly mentioned. “Sarina’s [Wiegman] built a squad around that, she doesn’t just think of the team play, it’s everyone as a whole, character on and off the pitch. But we have to rally around each other now.”

While Walsh prevented an ACL injury, the variety of gamers struggling ACL accidents within the girls’s recreation is a grave concern. Both Mead and Williamson are lacking as they get better from ACL accidents, whereas different international locations have additionally been hit. Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema, France’s Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Canada’s Janine Beckie, and the American pair of Christen Press and Catarina Macario are additionally lacking the event through ACL accidents.

Haiti’s Jennyfer Limage picked up an ACL injury of their opening spherical 1-0 defeat to England and it is one thing on the minds of Wiegman’s squad.

“I don’t think you can think about it, for me, those three letters [ACL] scare the absolute you-know-what out of me,” Daly mentioned.

Earps took it a step additional, calling for extra analysis to be finished on why there are such a lot of ACL accidents within the girls’s recreation.

“It’s the talk of the town — that more research can be done,” Earps mentioned. “And hopefully that will definitely happen.”