It felt like an all too familiar sight when Leicester City Women defensive midfielder Ruby Mace was stretchered off at Chelsea.
ACL injuries are endemic in the women’s game and it felt like Mace was the latest victim.
There was huge relief then, when City announced earlier this week that while Mace had suffered an injury, it was not an ACL tear.
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Mace won’t require surgery but is due for a spell on the sidelines. Details beyond that have not yet been released, but it does mean there is hope for the 21-year-old that she will be able to represent the Lionesses at this summer’s Euros.
“While it’s disappointing for us and for Ruby to lose her for a period, the positive news is that the injury is not as serious as it could have been,” City manager Amandine Miquel told the club.
“She is in good hands with our medical team, and we will support her through her recovery to get her back on the pitch as soon as possible.”
Fall down table may be good news
There’s no match for City this weekend but they will keep a close eye on proceedings. In fact, they’ll probably be hoping to fall down a spot in the table.
Bottom side Crystal Palace host 11th-placed Aston Villa on Sunday in a battle of the two teams behind City.
If Palace win under new manager Leif Smerud, they will move onto nine points, just three behind City. While Miquel’s side would still have the buffer of Villa in between them and the drop zone, seeing the gap to relegation halved would put them under pressure.
Whereas if Villa win, City will drop a place to 11th in the table, but they will still have a six-point lead over Palace with six matches to go.
Sack list grows as Taylor departs Man City
In their three previous seasons in the WSL, City have sacked their manager. It doesn’t look like happening this campaign as they try to build under Miquel.
But the French manager is already the seventh-longest-serving boss in the division and just five days off the top half.
With Man City sacking Gareth Taylor this week, following the changes in coaches at Liverpool and Crystal Palace in late February, that’s now five of the 12 clubs in the WSL who have parted with their managers this term.
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