Manchester City’s hopes of leap-frogging Chelsea to win this season’s Women’s Super League title have been dented by the news that their highly influential England striker, Toni Duggan, will miss the remainder of the season with an ankle problem.
Duggan sustained the injury during a recent Continental Cup tie against Liverpool Ladies and sat out last Sunday’s vital 1-0 win over fellow title rivals Sunderland. She will now be on the sidelines for the final three WSL games as well as the Continental Cup quarter-final against Arsenal and England’s forthcoming European Championship qualifer in Estonia.
The 24-year-old’s absence is likely to be felt as City meet Liverpool, this time in the WSL, again on Thursday night when they hope to close the gap on leaders Chelsea to two points.
Grant Downie, City’s head of performance, is confident Duggan will make a full recovery: “Although this is a really disappointing setback for Toni, she has previously demonstrated great strength of character and excellent application to rehabilitation plans provided by the medical team.”
Natasha Flint and Nikita Parris are in contention to deputise against Liverpool at City’s Academy stadium.
