Former Lioness and England legend Ellen White says she is 'devastated' for Beth Mead after the Arsenal star suffered an ACL injury in the defeat to Manchester United last weekend.
Mead faces a race against time to be fit for the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next summer as she waits for the full timescale of her recovery to be established. The 27-year-old is a key player for both club and country and is already one of the the Gunners' top goalscorers this season with five in all competitions.
White, who featured alongside Mead for the Lionesses' triumph at the UEFA Women's Euro and announced her retirement after the tournament, has backed her former international teammate to return better than ever before.
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"I'm absolutely devastated for her," she said in an interview with Sky Sports. "She's had a phenomenal couple of years for both England and Arsenal. What she's achieved in those couple of years is extraordinary.
"I know she's got an incredible medical team and support system at Arsenal that will help her get back fitter and probably even better than ever before. It's a tight turnaround, an ACL is a long injury, but she's got a great mentality."
However, with Mead such an integral figure for England under Sarina Wiegman, White concedes it would be a huge blow for the nation's World Cup chances if she's unable to recover for next summer's tournament.
"I think it would be a massive blow (if she missed the World Cup)," she added. "What she's achieved in major tournaments, she's got the experience and she scores goals. It would be a massive blow to the England squad and for our potential chances at the World Cup at the same time."
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