Sonia Bompastor press conference: Leicester vs Chelsea preview

Posted by author December 13, 2024 Sports

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Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor said forward Lauren James is on track to return to action after the winter break in January.

England international James has not played since the 4-1 win over Arsenal in October after suffering a calf injury.

“LJ is progressing really well,” Bompastor said. “We are talking with the staff about her return.

“It’s always a little bit difficult because you want them back but you also want to protect them and not take too many risks. For LJ we will see her after the winter break in January for sure.”

Forwards Mia Fishel and Sam Kerr are progressing well in their anterior cruciate ligament recovery.

“Mia and Sam are long-term injuries,” Bompastor said. “The recovery is really individual. Each player will go with their own rhythm but we hope to have them as soon as possible.

“They are three really creative players, they really impact the game when they come in so as a manager I really hope to have them as soon as we can.”

Here more key lines from Bompastor’s news conference before Saturday’s Women’s Super League game against Leicester (kick-off 12:30 GMT)

On Leicester, she said she knows boss Amandine Miquel “quite well” from their time in the French league and said: “She always tries to surprise me so I am ready for that”.
She said there will be no complacency against Leicester despite their position in the table. “Every game matters. If we cant to continue our momentum and our run, the mentality we have to have is to be ready from the beginning of every game.”
She praised Catarina Macario after goal involvements in her last two games and said: “Cat is a really talented world-class player so it’s really important for us to have her on the pitch. Now she is in a good place, she was able to play 45 minutes against Brighton and start against Twente. We will see this weekend how we manager her.”
Bompastor confirmed the squad will travel to Portugal for a training camp during the winter break to prepare for the second half of the season.