The midfield duo, who helped Team GB to the quarter-finals of this summer’s Olympic games, didn’t travel with the squad to the Spanish capital for Tuesday’s clash at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano as a precaution.
New signing Vicky Losada stepped into the breach admirably and, alongside Laura Coombs and Caroline Weir, put in an industrious display in the heart of midfield, especially following a subtle tweak at half-time by the boss.
But with the games coming thick and fast, Taylor is hopeful that Walsh and Stanway will be back in the fold in the coming weeks.
“We’re obviously going to miss Keira (Walsh), a player of that quality that understands the way I want us to play,” the City boss reflected in his post-match press conference.
“Vicky’s (Losada) not been in the building long at all, we have to give her time to create that understanding together.
“The slight change at half-time worked, Laura Coombs came in and did really well, a player who understands the concepts a little bit more. It’s just time, giving the players the opportunity to get fit.
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“We have been hit a bit at the moment, they (Walsh and Stanway) were just a bit short in terms of where we needed to be.
“Keira, we’ll have some more imagery on the issue that she has and find out what that looks like in the next couple of days.
“Georgia hopefully shouldn’t be too far away and there’s a chance we might get her for some involvement against Everton at the weekend.”
Watch the video above to get Gareth Taylor‘s post-match thoughts in full...
