- Mead gearing up for return after ACL injury
- Eidevall provides exciting update
- Travelling with Arsenal squad for UCL clash
WHAT HAPPENED? The England international is back in the Gunners' squad and will travel with the team for the Champions League qualifier against Linkoping. This marks a significant step for Mead, who has been sidelined since November due to an ACL injury. Her return is particularly noteworthy as she is the first among a group of Arsenal players, including Vivianne Miedema, Leah Williamson, Laura Wienroither, and Teyah Goldie, to come back from similar ACL injuries.
WHAT THEY SAID: "Beth is here and she can travel with us," Eidevall confirmed. "She is the first of our long-term injuries to return. We hope that is a turning point for more players to come back as well. Mentally we hope this is a lift for the other injured players too, to see her coming back, because we know this will happen again this season."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mead lost the race against time to return to the England World Cup squad. Hence she continued her rehab at the club facilities and is now raring to get back in shape to return to competitive action.
"It's so nice when you welcome a player back because you know how hard they have fought for so many months. That starts off the pitch and then on the pitch to be able to get into this shape," Eidevall stated.
However, the manager informed that she is still not at 100 per cent to play a part against Linkoping but is almost there. "No. She is not there yet, this comes a little too early for her. But she is not very far," he added.
Next Match
IN TWO PHOTOS:
GettyWHAT NEXT? Mead will hope to be fit before the opening fixture of the 2023-24 Women's Super League campaign against Liverpool on October 1 as she finds herself in the last lap of her recovery process.
