The England defender, widely regarded as the best right-back in the world, is yet to feature in the 2021/22 campaign, having undergone knee surgery after the Summer Olympics.
The 30-year-old returned to the training pitch at the end of November and previewing the game at St Andrews, Head Coach Gareth Taylor revealed the Lionesses star is set for her first minutes of the season this weekend.
Taylor also provided an update on several long-term absentees, including captain Steph Houghton, Karen Bardsley, Ellie Roebuck, Esme Morgan and Chloe Kelly, as well as Lionesses duo Demi Stokes and Jill Scott.
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“They’re all getting closer,” he said. “Lucy is available for a period of the game this Sunday.
“The fact we’re playing three games in seven days means we need to manage that situation and not expect her to do three 90 minutes. We have a plan in place.
“She’s got a set amount of time, which is something we looked at with the three games coming up, but we’re pushing for her to start the game.
“Having her back is a great option for the team. We’ve missed her, no doubt. She’s proven herself year in, year out what a good player she is and what she brings to a team, and to not have had her and many of the others already this season has been really tough on the squad.
“Nobody anticipated how bad the injury crisis would be and we were living it. Those guys have been really positive – Lucy’s been a great supporter of the team: I’ve heard her in the stands, geeing the girls up.
“All of them have done that. It’s what you bring to the culture and the squad regardless of if you play. It’s really important and I’ve seen positive signs from the players.
“It’s been significant not to have them but we’re moving in the right direction and are looking forward to having them back. It’s a great boost having Lucy back this weekend.
“A lot of players are edging closer: Steph, hopefully Ellie and then Chloe. Karen and Esme are a bit longer.
“Steph we’re anticipating will be back out on the pitch training with the group after the break; Ellie a bit longer – she’s had a couple of little setbacks in her return.
“There’s no real set date [for Ellie] but a bit longer than Christmas – it’ll be new year but hopefully, sooner rather than later. Ellie’s been a big loss and when you bring Chloe and Esme into the situation, not being able to call on them will affect any team.
“Demi’s struggling with an illness – just a normal illness; not COVID-19 – and seems to be struggling so we’ll check on her [on Saturday] but she is a doubt, and Jill had an ankle injury when she returned from England.
“I think outside of that, as much as we’ve gained one and lost two, the options seem better than what they were before the international break, which is really helpful.”
Also asked whether City’s injury concerns have affected plans for the January transfer window, Taylor replied: “We’ll still look at options.
“It’s a difficult market, especially with the GB criteria. It makes the job a little more difficult and you have to be mindful of the squad size.
“We have some targets and let’s see. Some of those will probably be more for the summer but there are a couple of options we’re looking at and hopefully, we can be successful in that to give the squad a boost.”
Sunday’s game marks the first of three games in a week for Taylor’s side, as City look to end 2021 on a positive note with three wins from our two league encounters against Birmingham and Reading and a crucial Continental Cup clash at Leicester.
“It’s feast or famine but we prefer it this way, even when we have had fewer numbers in our squad to choose from,” he added.
“It’s great when you work from game to game and the players enjoy that. We’ve just got two different competitions – the Conti Cup surrounded by two WSL games – and we want to be successful in them and go into the Christmas break on a high.
“We’ve got good games, good opportunities but we aren’t looking too far ahead.
“We’ve just got to focus on Sunday’s game, execute the gameplan we want to work to and then move onto the next one.”
City face Birmingham on Sunday 12 December (14:00), Leicester on Wednesday 15 December (19:00) and Reading on Sunday 19 December (14:00).
Check out mancity.com and our official app for coverage of each game, while tickets for all home games are available.
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Our visit of Reading will also be available to watch live on CITY+ with a subscription costing just £1.99 per month while also granting access to full-match replays of all Men’s Women’s, EDS and Academy fixtures, as well as original documentaries and selected live broadcasts.
