The media heard from Everton manager Brian Sørensen as the Toffees prepare to face Leicester City this weekend.
It was revealed on Friday morning that captain Megan Finnigan suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during Everton’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur. The injury is the third of its kind suffered by the Toffees this season.
The head coach packed on the praise for Finnigan and acknowledged the severity of the issue, saying “Meg is tough, but she is devasted, we all are. She said she will be back stronger but she will be in next week for the planning of the surgery and all of that stuff.
“It’s never ideal this type of injury, we hadn’t had any since I’ve been here and now it’s number three this season, so it’s not ideal. It’s a huge loss on the pitch as club captain, but we have players that can drop in there for sure.”
Winter signings are ‘a big step onwards’ says Sørensen
The Toffees were one of the active clubs during this winter window in the Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL).
Hayley Ladd joined from Manchester United permanently, with Emma Watson also switching red for blue in a loan deal. Louna Ribadeira also moved to The Toffees on loan from Chelsea until the end of the current campaign.
The manager said: “I’m happy, we got the ones in that we needed. It’s a matter of getting game time and getting time together which is what they need and we can get them gelled in.
“It’s a big step onwards in the way we want to play, we are happy.”
Chelsea’s investment ‘makes the gap bigger’ claims Sørensen
Much has been made of Chelsea’s record spending this window, which has seen the club splash out on both Naomi Girma and Keira Walsh for a combined fee that is north of a million pounds – numbers never before seen in women’s football.
Speaking on this, Sørensen said: “In transfer fees, they spend what we spend on our squad in an entire year, that’s the gap, right.
“If they have the funds, they have the money to want to do it then fair play, they go and do it. Like they have an injury to a centre-back, then go and buy the best one available.
“It shows commitment and action to the women’s team so fair play, but if we talk about longer terms, it makes the gap bigger, that’s for sure.”
Leicester are ‘well organised’ says Sørensen
Everton face the Foxes in a huge clash at the bottom of the League, with Everton sat on ten points, and Leicester one place below on nine. Leicester actually won the reverse fixture 1-0, with Yuka Momiki bagging the winner.
On the challenge the visitors pose, “They are a well organised team, against Liverpool, they were on the front foot and pressed a lot more, with a clear emphasis on collective defending.
“They’ve got good players back, they were the better team against Tottenham I think, but they got unlucky which happens in football.”
Everton face Leicester at Walton Hall Park on Sunday, with proceedings getting underway at 14:00 (GMT).
