Renee Slegers gives positive injury news on Arsenal stars and looks ahead to Chelsea clash | OneFootball

Renee Slegers gave positive injury updates on Taylor Hinds, Stina Blackstenius and Beth Mead after Arsenal’s 3-1 win over OH Leuven in the Champions League.

Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Caitlin Foord are all set to join up with Australia for the Asia Cup in March, meaning that Slegers will be three players light for that period.

However, she hopes that she will have three injured stars back before then to bolster the squad.

“Let’s see how many games they’ll [the Australian players] miss,” she said. “We have Taylor Hinds back, which is really positive. 

“Stina is progressing really well, might be back before the block. We hope that Beth Mead can make her return as well. So then that’s all really positive. 

“So yes, those three players will go, but if you look at how the squad is performing at the moment and how players are stepping up and how we do things together and filling roles, that’s been really positive. So I go with a lot of belief and confidence into that next block of games.”

Arsenal confirmed their place in the Champions League quarter-finals after they beat OH Leuven 7-1 on agreggate. They have been drawn against Chelsea in the next round and Renee Slegers previewed the tie.

“I’m in the here and now and we have our spot secured now in the quarter-final,” she said. “Of course, I’m aware it’s going to be against Chelsea, but if you ask me now, I’ve been working towards getting this security into the quarter-final, so I haven’t been visualising or thinking about what this game is going to mean. 

“But if you ask me now, of course, I understand the magnitude of this quarter-final tie and we look forward to it. 

“We love these occasions. I’m sure the fans love these occasions and we’re going to do everything to be as good as possible over those two ties. But yeah, that’s a little bit further ahead now.”