Everton manager Brian Sørensen is certain his side ‘will have solutions’ to break down Leicester City despite injury woes.
The Toffees boss confirmed that Kelly Gago will be absent from this weekend’s Women’s Super League (WSL) fixture due to concussion, along with Rion Ishikawa and Courtney Brosnan who both have knee injuries. Aurora Galli and Megan Finnigan remain sidelined also due to knee injuries.
With five players out at this early stage in the season, Everton made the decision to recall youngster Issy Hobson from her loan at WSL 2 side Nottingham Forest.
Sørensen explained the decision to recall the teenager, saying, “She got a League Cup game where she did really well against Newcastle, but that was the only game time she got. We could potentially give her some game time now, and then also we have her our environment.”
The now 17-year-old impressed scored a last minute equaliser against Arsenal during her first senior Everton start last season, and is a valuable asset at the back for the Toffees despite her youth.
“I spoke to her and she was happy to be back,” declared the Toffees boss. “She enjoyed it being there [Nottingham Forest]. She said it was a good set up they had and professional and so on. But of course, she’s an Evertonian and she’s a blue, so she wants to break through for us.
“It’s a big jump for a young player to break into the best league in the world. That’s the challenging thing, but I knowdefensively, I can 100 % rely on her and trust on her.
“It’s more the decision making on the ball and the technical aspect that she needs to improve in, but she doesn’t improve in that if she doesn’t play. So yeah, she’s in with us. I’m very sure that she’ll get some game time here in the coming weeks.”
With Brosnan on the sidelines, Everton have also brought in Manchester City goalkeeper Katie Startup on an emergency loan deal. “We only have two keepers,” Sørensen said, “so there was a necessity to get a second one in when Courtney is going to be out for at least four five weeks more. I think we found a good solution with Katie. She’s a good goalkeeper and a good girl to come into the group.”
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Everton ‘know what to expect’ from Leicester City
Whilst injury setbacks present a challenge, the head coach is positive that his squad remains capable of picking up much-needed points.
“We will put out a good team out against Leicester still, but some of them [injured players] are key figures that normally would start and play for us, Sørensen explained. “So of course you just have to manage that. We still have a good squad available now. It’s not ideal, but it is how is and we will deal with it.”
Providing his assessment of the Foxes, Sørensen said thoughfully, “I know they are physically very strong, know, they they’re very good in the defending part. You have to break them down.
“I thought they’d been looking good here in the first couple of games and not maybe always getting the result. They look like a solid unit, and it’s going to be a test like every game is in this league. We know what we expect from them and we’llhave solutions to try to break them down.”
Everton’s meeting with the Foxes on Sunday will mark their third consecutive away fixture, but Sørensen maintained his Toffees’ mindset is laser-focused on getting a result no matter the stadium. “I don’t look so much about a home or away,” he said.
“We just want to be competitive and get three points. We haven’t been good enough to do that in the latest games, so we want to make it right.”