Fowler set to return after ten months out for Man City’s FA Cup tie | OneFootball

Man City boss Andree Jeglertz says Mary Fowler could get her first minutes back on the pitch this weekend after her long-term knee injury.

Ahead of Manchester City’s fifth round FA Cup tie against Sheffield United, Jeglertz discussed the progress of forward Fowler, who has featured for only 15 minutes since she ruptured her ACL in April 2025. 

The Australian international had suffered setbacks in her recovery as she returned to City’s first team squad, but according to the head coach, she could feature at the Joie Stadium on Sunday.

Asked if she would be available for the fixture, Jeglertz said: “Definitely.

“She had some smaller setbacks the last few weeks. But now she’s been training fully this week, if nothing special happens in the last days she will be available to get minutes.”

Fowler has been included in Australia’s squad for the Asia Cup, which kicks off when the Matildas face the Philippines in Perth on March 1. She will depart after the FA Cup tie, and is not the only player scheduled to leave Manchester for the competition. 

Ayaka Yamashita, Yui Hasegawa and Aoba Fujino have all been called up for Japan’s squad, and with the final not until March 21st, the quartet could miss City’s Women’s Super League ties with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur on March 15th and 22nd respectively.

Jeglertz did not appear too concerned about losing his players, saying: “I think we have built a squad that will manage even though we lose players.

“We will miss great players but have a strong squad to face those games without them,” he added.

As for the clash with Sheffield United, Jeglertz said they would not underestimate their opponents, despite the gulf between the two sides. Where City are eight points clear at the top of the WSL, their opponents sit 10th in the second division on 13 points from 14 matches. 

“We have seen in both cups that these games are not just going in and expecting to get a good result. But we need to do it the way we want,” he said. “We want a good performance and result, we need to show up and if we do that we should win the game.

“We have full respect for the opponent and will treat it like a WSL game,” he finished.