Leah Williamson: Arsenal Women defender out of Champions League game vs Hacken due to concussion protocol

Lotte Wubben-Moy, Leah Williamson's England team-mate, and Laia Codina, who won the World Cup with Spain last year, are in line to continue in defence as Arsenal look to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg; Lina Hurtig is still missing through an unspecified injury

Thursday 26 September 2024 06:18, UK

Leah Williamson has been ruled out of the second leg of Arsenal Women's Champions League second-round tie against Hacken due to concussion protocol.

Williamson missed the Gunners' WSL opener against Manchester City last weekend, which ended in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium.

Lotte Wubben-Moy, Williamson's England team-mate, and Laia Codina, who won the World Cup with Spain last year, are in line to continue in defence as Arsenal look to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.

Victoria Pelova and Steph Catley were also absent from training on Wednesday, with the latter also ruled out of Thursday evening's clash.

Manager Jonas Eidevall said when asked about Williamson's absence: "I don't have a timeframe on Leah's injury at the moment. It's guided by our medical team.

"When I have something more concrete to communicate, I will do that. She sustained the concussion during an incident in training.

"If we don't qualify, I would definitely consider that a failure. We need to get into the groups."

Eidevall confirmed Lina Hurtig is still missing through an unspecified injury but is back in training.

The Gunners boss added: "Steph Catley also missed training, so she's also confirmed she can't take part. And Lina Hurtig, she was in training. She's making progress, but she's not far enough ahead to be able to make the squad tomorrow either."

'Motivation high for Arsenal players'

Arsenal goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger:

"Champions League should be motivation enough, no matter what happened last season. I'm not a fan of talking about the past. I'm more a fan of looking forward. And our motivation is as high as it was last season, I would say even higher. So that's why our expectations - as Jonas just mentioned - is the group stages or even further but we're all taking it step by step. So as I've said, the motivation is high tomorrow to win that game, to turn it around and to finally get into the group stages."

'Positives to take from Man City draw'

Substitute Beth Mead scored a late equaliser to rescue a 2-2 draw for Arsenal against City in a thrilling opening-weekend Women's Super League clash at the Emirates Stadium.

And Eidevall saw plenty of positives from his side as his side prepare to face Hacken.

He said: "I think that was important because I didn't think our performance and result against Hacken was a step in the right direction for us, and that happens in football.

"Everything is about how you react, how you move forward as a team. I think our reaction to that game was really strong.

"I thought we performed well against Manchester City. I think we were the better team for the full 90 minutes in that game. And I don't think there are many teams that can be that against Manchester City.

"And we need to draw confidence from that performance, but then we need to understand it's a totally different game here now on Thursday. It's knockout football. It's against a different team.

"You get nothing for free in football. You have to work for everything. You have to create everything again, and we need to be prepared to do that work Thursday night."

'Arsenal prepared for Hacken low block'

Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall:

"I think that they did a little bit of everything when we played them the last time. I think we forced them down into a low block the longer the match proceeded and progressed.

"I think we know that they're a team that have a good tactical understanding. They're tactically flexible. They can play in different formations. They can play in different ways. They've shown that when we see how they change between playing in the domestic league and in the Champions League as a team, they've been more successful in the Champions League than they've been in the domestic league, and I think that comes to them being good at executing specific game plans.

"So, we're prepared for a game where they can have a lot of different approaches to manage points, but what really is on our focus is our performance and what we need to do, and we understand that what we do is going to shape a lot of what they're going to do.

City looking to secure group stage return for first time since 2021

City look set to secure a return to the group stage for the first time since 2021, having been eliminated in qualifiers two years in a row and then fallen short of a European berth when they came fourth in the WSL in 2022-23.

Gareth Taylor's side, WSL runners-up last season, lead Paris FC 5-0 heading into their second leg at Joie Stadium.

Taylor said: "They won 6-0 at the weekend away from home (against Guingamp). Our mentality has to be 0-0, and we have to go and earn the right.

"We did that last week really, really well. We need to be ready tomorrow for a team that has pretty much got nothing to lose."

Taylor also revealed that midfielder Jill Roord, who has been recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, is set to be available to make her return to the matchday squad for Sunday's home league clash with Brighton.

Thursday will also see Celtic look to seal a place in the group stage for the first time when they play Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava in Airdrie, leading 1-0 from the first leg.

When is the group stage draw?

The group-stage draw will take place on Friday September 27, with the subsequent fixtures scheduled to be played on the following dates:

Matchday 1: October 8/9
Matchday 2: October 16/17
Matchday 3: November 12/13
Matchday 4: November 20/21
Matchday 5: December 11/12
Matchday 6: December 17/18

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