ANKLE INJURY COSTS DUGGAN ENGLAND SPOT
IN-FORM forward Toni Duggan will miss the rest of the domestic season and England’s Euro 2017 qualifier with Estonia after the full extent of her ankle injury was discovered.
No sooner had the 24-year-old been included in Mark Sampson’s squad of 23 than she was forced to withdraw due to the injury suffered in last month’s win over Liverpool.
Sampson has made seven changes to his England squad that achieved a third-place finish at the World Cup, with Duggan’s Manchester City team-mates Demi Stokes and Isobel Christiansen among the new faces, but there is no place for WSL 1 top scorer Beth Mead of Sunderland.
Defenders Gilly Flaherty and Amy Turner have also been included, along with Jess Clarke, Danielle Carter and Gemma Davison.
Fara Williams and Jade Moore have been left out due to injury, while Jordan Nobbs, Katie Chapman, Karen Carney, Lianne Sanderson and Jodie Taylor have been rested.
Sampson, who will not call up a replacement for Duggan before his team take on Estonia on September 21, said:“It’s important that we keep building on the momentum from the World Cup and keep improving.
“Our ambition is to continue to grow as a team over the course of the qualification process and the match with Estonia signifies not the start of our journey but the next stage in the group’s journey.”