Draper To Be Assessed, O’Brien Making Progress, Foster Says
- LCFC Women come up against Brighton & Hove Albion this Sunday afternoon
- King Power Stadium is set to host the Barclays Women’s Super League fixture
- Forward Denny Draper could miss out after sustaining an injury this week
- Shannon O’Brien is continuing her recovery but Sunday comes too soon
The Foxes return home to King Power Stadium for a meeting with the Seagulls, with tickets remaining available to purchase online ahead of the 3pm GMT kick-off.
First Team Assistant Manager Jennifer Foster revealed in Thursday’s press conference that young Foxes forward Draper picked up a knock on international duty which could see her miss the weekend’s encounter.
Handed her WSL debut earlier this season, the 17-year-old has gone on to make three further appearances in the league, finding the net during the victory over Bristol City last month.
Absent from the narrow defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday while away with England Under-17s, she could now face a spell on the sidelines, as Foster explained.
“Denny Draper has come back from international duty with England with an injury, which is really unfortunate,” Foster commented in her pre-match briefing with the media.
“Our medical team are just dealing with that and the extent of that we don’t know just yet. It’s uncertain at the minute as she’s only just come back in today (Thursday). Until I get an update from them (the medical team), I won’t have any update.
“I’m hoping it’s not going to be too drastic, but I don’t know at this stage. We just need to see the extent of Denny’s injury before we make any further comments on it.”
Elsewhere on the injury front, fellow forward Shannon O’Brien is continuing her recovery from a knock sustained on England Under-23s duty during the last international window.
“Shannon [O’Brien] is still unavailable right now,” Foster said. “She is making progress but is not quite ready to be back in the squad. But those are the only two right now.
“Injuries will always happen, it’s probably just unfortunate how they happen and how many we’ve had in the last two international breaks, although the Under-17s is outside the usual FIFA international window.”
Janina Leitzig, meanwhile, returned to the substitutes bench against both Liverpool and Tottenham following injury, and the German shot-stopper has been getting back up to speed.
“She (Leitzig) has made progress,” City’s Assistant Manager added. “She has been available for the last two games and hopefully will be able to be in the squad this weekend, unless there is anything reported by the medical team.”