Chelsea forward Fran Kirby will be available for selection for this weekend’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.
The 28-year-old England international has been sidelined with an illness for two-and-a-half months but Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has confirmed that the player will be available for selection for the squad for the Vitality Women’s FA Cup final.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Hayes said “Last time we played City, we were depleted. This time, we’ve got a full-strength squad to pick from including Fran Kirby.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on her because I love that kid and she has been through a lot but it didn’t even look like she had been away, she looked that good in training. It was nice to see a smile on her face and she participated in everything when at the beginning of the week, she said ‘let’s see how it goes, let’s do one bit of one session’.
“On Day One, she came out of that and it wasn’t enough, Day Two we planned to use her as a neutral or use her in part-blocks again but she said she was fine.
“She’s been in training all week so I’m over the moon to be honest.”
Despite spending more than two months of the season on the sidelines, Kirby has still made 21 appearances in all competitions for The Blues in 2021/2022 and she has scored eight goals. Her return will give Chelsea a real boost going into their final game of the season.
The 2021/2022 Vitality Women’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley kicks-off at 2.30pm on Sunday afternoon.
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