Chelsea returned to action on Sunday after the winter break, beating Championship rivals Charlton Athletic 4-0 in the fourth round of the Women’s FA Cup.
Mayra Ramirez, Guro Reiten, Aggie Beever-Jones and Niamh Charles were all on the scoresheet, but Sonia Bompastor was still without a handful of key players.
Kadeisha Buchanan and Sophie Ingle are the long-term absentees after suffering ACL injuries, while Lauren James and the aforementioned Charles have only recently returned from injury.
Mia Fishel and Sam Kerr suffered ACL injuries early in 2024 and fans are eagerly awaiting their return as their recovery timelines approach the one-year mark. Kerr, in particular, has been one Chelseathe most important figures from it WSL arrival of the Chicago Red Stars in 2020.
Last January, Kerr was injured during a warm-weather training camp in Morocco with the club and has been sidelined ever since. Neither Kerr nor Fishel have returned to full team practice so far and are still far from returning to the field.
The pair traveled to Portugal with the squad for this year’s warm-weather training camp, but completed their own program separate from the group. Bompastor already hinted before Christmas that a February or March return is the most likely scenario for Kerr.
“We’re looking to maybe have her back with us (in) February (or) March, not before,” Bompastor told media last month. “He is still in his individual rehabilitation process. It will take at least another two or three months for him to be fit enough to be with the team.”
That would push his recovery timetable back more than a year, but could allow him to feature at a crucial time in the season as Chelsea look to claim another WSL title. The team have won nine of their ten League games so far this season and have only dropped points once.
Chelsea are six points clear at the top of the table, closely followed Manchester City, arsenal and Manchester United. The London club has also qualified for the knockout rounds of the Champions League as they look to finally end their wait for a European title.
The WSL leaders travel to face West Ham United at the Chigwell Construction Stadium this weekend before welcoming Championship side Durham to Kingsmeadow in the quarter-finals of the newly renamed Subway Women’s League Cup next week.
