‘She has been smiling since last Sunday’ – Chelsea boss Bompastor reflects on Kerr’s long-awaited return | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor says that forward Sam Kerr has been smiling ever since she made her competitive return from injury against Aston Villa last weekend.

The Australian international came on for the final 15 minutes at Villa Park and she scored in the 3-1 win.

When speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s fixture against Leicester City, Chelsea boss Bompastor said that Kerr’s big moment brought her so much positivity off the back of a 20-month lay-off with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury.

“Sam has been great, I think she has been smiling since last Sunday which is nice to see,” Bompastor said. “It was a big moment for her and for everyone at the club.

“It was great to see Sam back on the pitch officially, it was really positive news. Sam is a player that people pay to come to the stadium to watch. It was fantastic for her to come in and play 20 minutes and get her 100th goal for the club.

“It’s been really positive and that’s really nice after everything she’s been through.”

This weekend’s opponents Leicester City collected their first win of the season against Liverpool last weekend. The Foxes claimed a 1-0 win over The Reds despite playing more than half an hour with 10 players. Bompastor is wary of Leicester City’s battling qualities.

She said “Everyone knows that we dropped our first two points last season against them away, so that’s enough for us to be alert going into that game.

“We’ve spoken about the mental aspects for them – resilience and toughness. They have these two qualities and more. Going into the game on Sunday, we expect that; facing a team that is really well-organised defensively and they will take any chance in the game to try to win. We are prepared for that but it’s about getting the right balance in focusing on Leicester and focusing on our strengths to make sure that we are able to win the game.”

After opening the season against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea return to Kingsmeadow this weekend. Bompastor expects great backing from The Blues faithful wherever her side play.

She said “I enjoy playing at Stamford Bridge and Kingsmeadow. I think the fans were incredible for us last season and at the beginning of this season already. The Man City game was incredible and we played [Aston] Villa last game and in pre-season and the crowd were fantastic again.

“We love playing at Kingsmeadow. The fans are really close to us on the pitch and they are the 12th man, so that’s a really nice feeling. We can’t wait to see them again on Sunday.”

Chelsea’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Leicester City kicks-off at 12pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.