Stott injury blow for Football Ferns
Football Ferns coach Jitka Klimkova´ is expecting to be without veteran defender Rebekah Stott for the rest of 2022 as she recovers from ankle surgery.
Stott recently re-signed with English Women’s Super League club Brighton and Hove Albion, but has had to have surgery to heal an injury suffered while playing in Australia.
The 29-year-old previously played for Brighton in the 2019-20 season, but her time there was cut short when was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, and returned to Melbourne to successfully undergo treatment.
Stott returned to football with Melbourne City in A-league Women at the end of last year and made her first starts for the Ferns since her recovery from her cancer treatment in June, when she captained them in a loss to Norway and a draw with Wales.
Klimkova´ said Stott was still ‘‘a couple of months’’ away from being ready to play, which was why she wasn’t in the squad named last week for this Saturday’s match against Mexico and next Wednesday’s match against the Philippines.
The Ferns are next in action after that on October 9 away against Japan then are set to finish the year by playing at home for the first time since June 2018 during the November international window, which runs from the seventh to the 15th.
Klimkova´ said Stott’s surgery had gone well and that while she would be ‘‘more than happy’’ if she was ready to return by November, next year was ‘‘the plan for us’’.
Regular Ferns skipper Ali Riley was sidelined with an injury of her own in June, but is set to take charge once again when they play in California, where she stars in club football for Angel City in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Klimkova´ was able to start Stott alongside Claudia Bunge in central defence in both her team’s matches in June, ending a run of six matches where no centre back pairing made back-to-back starts.
She will now likely turn to Meikayla Moore to partner Bunge, though there’s a good chance Junior Football Ferns captain Kate Taylor will also receive playing time – and potentially a first start – after impressing when she made her first senior appearances in June.
Hannah Blake, Emma Rolston and Ashleigh Ward were also ruled out of the Ferns’ September friendlies due to injury before the squad was announced, while Katie Bowen was said to have made herself unavailable for them, after playing more than any of her team-mates in Klimkova´’s first 11 matches in charge.
Midfielder Daisy Cleverley then joined the injury list after the team assembled in camp in California, with uncapped forward Maggie Jenkins called up to replace her.
The Football Ferns are yet to win a match in 2022, having managed two draws in between five defeats, and have less than 12 months to gear up for next year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup on home soil.