Manchester City goalkeeper Karen Bardsley’s Tokyo 2020 hopes could be in doubt with the player having sustained a hamstring injury while representing loan club OL Reign.
The 36-year-old joined the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club in February on a loan deal which will run until the end of June.
Bardsley has made three appearances for OL Reign so far including an outing in their 1-0 defeat to Washington Spirit in the early hours of this morning. Her latest appearance ended prematurely though with Bardsley sustaining a hamstring injury four minutes before time.
The injury will be a real worry for Bardsley who was one of two goalkeepers selected in Hege Riise’s Team GB squad last week. Team GB’s Olympic Games involvement starts with a group fixture against Chile in Sapporo on 21st July, leaving Bardsley with just a few weeks to prove her fitness to head coach Riise.
Everton goalkeeper Sandy MacIver is on standby should Bardsley not regain her fitness in time to feature in Japan. MacIver is one of four players named by Team GB head coach Riise on the reserve list.
Team GB are expected to fly out to Japan either in the second or third week of July.