Renee Slegers admits that Katie Reid’s latest injury setback is a big blow for the player but insists she will grow from the experience. Reid started last season as first choice central defender and earned a call-up into the England squad at the age of 19 but ruptured her ACL before the international window.
Reid has been recovering from the injury for the last 12 months and had rejoined full training before experiencing a bad ankle injury in training on Tuesday which Slegers says will keep her out for the rest of the year at least.
‘She is upset and gutted when it happened and that’s something you don’t want at all when you’re ready. It’s physically and mentally taxing to come back from a long-term injury and she’s learned so much during that period of time. You build character, you build robustness, physically mentally.
‘But then she has to deal with another setback within a setback and the real challenge, but Katie is such a strong, positive person. She’s gonna grow from this. She’s gonna take this challenge and this adversity, this obstacle and something that is gonna make her better.
‘And we are all in it with her and she has the full support from her teammates and she’ll get through this and she’s gonna come back better and unfortunately, it’s not before Christmas, we don’t expect before Christmas. I wish that wasn’t the case, but she looked really good back in team training.
‘It was really nice to see her train, her composure on the ball, the calmness, the physical qualities that she brings. So, unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to get Katie back. She’s young, so she has a big future ahead of her and she’s gonna take this experience with her and it’s gonna make her stronger.’
Meanwhile, Slegers also sung the praises of Caitlin Foord, who has played the full 90 minutes in the last two games, victories against Spurs and Benfica. Slegers says that Foord’s fighting spirit has been necessary given the Gunners’ form and Spurs and Benfica’s physical style of play.
‘She’s been massive for us. She’s been a leader with the intensity and the fight she brings on the pitch. And that’s what we spoke about ahead of Spurs and the North London Derby. We needed fight and grit on the pitch, winning duels and she brings that. That’s one of her big qualities in the game, and she injects it into the team.
‘The way she plays is contagious and she’s been so important for us in that game and with that performance and everything she brought and everything we expected, we needed against Benfica, because we expected a fight there as well. We wanted her to be on a pitch again and she had a great 90 minutes again for us.’
Foord had a late goal disallowed for a bizarre offside decision. ‘She scores the 4 nil goal. The way she does it, with a wide combination and she sprints at high speed. She sprints into the box to get into that situation and finishes it. I think we have to get some clarity on what player was offside at that moment.
‘So we are gutted it for her. She didn’t get the goal and goal difference can become important as well. She had her 50th appearance for Arsenal in the Champions League last night that tells you everything about what she’s done for Arsenal so long and the player that she is and she’s in great form right now.’