Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor has told FA Women’s Super League Full-Time that United States international midfielder Sam Mewis is unlikely to feature against West Ham United at The Academy Stadium this weekend with the player nursing an ankle injury.
The 28-year-old has missed all of Manchester City’s January fixtures to date after being away on international duty with the United States.
Mewis netted a first career hat-trick in the first of two international friendly fixtures against Colombia before providing an assist and winning her side a penalty kick in the second game against the same opponents. That fixture came to an abrupt end for Mewis with the player sustaining an ankle injury in the second half and frustrated club boss Taylor confirmed that she is still recovering.
“Sam’s come back and I think it’s just working out with the scan which is remnants of an old injury and which is a new injury because she is showing quite well to be honest, she is looking good and she has come through a few checks” said Taylor in Manchester City’s pre-match press conference.
“I think this weekend will be too soon for her but there is a real chance that she could be back at the back end of next week and ready for the game after that.
“We need to make sure that we are not pushing players too much, too soon but Sam is a very positive person. Even when she was given the news about her injury, she felt that it was better than it was showing.
“That speaks volumes about the person really. She is a very positive person and is working really hard to get back in.”
While Mewis has been missed in recent weeks, Manchester City have still performed exceptionally well. Taylor’s side have hit seven goals in both of their last two Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixtures while they played very well in their 4-2 extra-time defeat to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Women’s Continental League Cup. Taylor went on to praise his side for those performances.
“They have been amazing” added Taylor. “I’ve been really pleased with all three performances, really pleased that we have put six points on the board.
“Now we come into a decent period, a really good three games before the international break and we want to be there, we want to work as hard as we possibly can in order to be right in the mix.”
Manchester City’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture against West Ham United kicks-off at 2pm at The Academy Stadium on Sunday and the match will be available for fans to stream live on the FA Player.