Cushing: Miedema potentially ruled out for the season | OneFootball

Nick Cushing expects Vivianne Miedema to miss the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign through injury.

The Dutch forward was substituted with a hamstring issue soon after scoring in the Netherlands' 3-1 UEFA Nations League win over Austria earlier this week.

She'd been in scintillating form for City ahead of the international break, winning the Club's Etihad Player of the Month award with six goal involvements across eight appearances in March.

But Cushing has now confirmed that Miedema will likely be ruled out of our remaining games this season, as the Blues push for UEFA Women's Champions League qualification and prepare for an FA Cup semi-finals this weekend against Manchester United.

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He said of Miedema's injury: "We’ve lost Viv and that’s something the medical team are ongoing with. She's positive but it’s not looking good in the sense of being able to imminently impact any of our games.

"It's hugely disappointing for Viv because of the role she's played on the pitch and for me personally because she's been so pivotal in the results I've got with this team.

"She's played a huge role in dragging this team up and she's done the same today in the meeting room and on the training pitch.

"She's positive and concentrating on rehab now, and we'll give her all the support she needs to be back out there as quick as possible."

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Cushing also confirmed that Sunday's clash with Manchester United will come too soon for Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw to be available.

The Jamaican has been unavailable since our League Cup final defeat to Chelsea, and while our Interim Head Coach has been impressed by her attitude to recovery, she'll miss Sunday's 15:00 (UK) kick-off at the Joie Stadium.

Cushing did provide a positive update on the likes of Alex Greenwood, Lauren Hemp, Rebecca Knaak and Aoba Fujino, who are all making strong progress in their respective recoveries.

However, he was keen to stress that none of our injured stars would be rushed back to avoid risking any further issues down the line.

"Bunny wont make the game, she's working away with the medical team, I think for me, how fit and healthy is she, she's not imminently ready to come and help us on Sunday," he added.

"But one thing I've been inspired by is, yes we've got many injuries but those player are playing a huge part in contributing to the team environment and the team's mentality and preparation. But also they're working incredibly hard to be back as soon as possible.

"You can see on our social media that we've got Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp on the pitch, Rebecca Knaak trained today, Aoba Fujino has trained.

"But for us, we can't afford to re-injure. I think we might've had certain players back here or there if we'd not had some unfortunate reinjuries.

"We can't afford one more. They'll all be back at the right time but the team I've just put out there in training and worked with gives me huge confidence that we can be competitive."

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Cushing also went into greater detail on the timeframes of both Hemp and Greenwood's recoveries.

He's confident they'll both make an impact before the end of the season, but didn't confirm which fixture was earmarked for that return.

Cushing said: "We've just presented a five week plan to get us a potential FA Cup and the top positions for the Champions League.

"They are involved in that plan and I'm more than confident we can get them to a place where they can contribute.

"When that is, it’s difficult to say. It’s not going to be for this game but things happen fast in football and if it’s Everton or Leicester or Manchester United, we have to continue to get results."