Everton Women have been dealt a blow ahead of the weekend's Women's Super League clash with Tottenham, with the Blues likely to be without defender Katrine Veje for their trip to Brisbane Road.
Conventionally a left-black, the Danish international has proven her versaility when deployed in a back three by Brian Sorensen, and has featured in all six of Everton's league games this season. However, the 31-year-old was forced the leave the field on 81 minutes after picking up a knock in Sunday's defeat to Manchester United.
And the Everton manager confirmed on Friday that Veje is unlikely to feature for the Blues before the upcoming international break.
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“Kat got a knock on her knee and we’re still assessing that so I don’t think she’ll be ready", Sorensen said. "Hopefully she’ll soon be back on the pitch. Everyone else is ready."
While Veje's presence at the back will be a miss for the Blues, her manager confirmed the injury doesn't look too serious, and Everton's impressive squad depth will help to plug the gap in her absence. Sorensen said: “We have Gabby George who can play, Elise Stenevik who’s a left footer that play.
"It’s, of course, not fun to miss one of your better players but that’s why we have a squad and it won’t change the way we play if Veje is not going to be ready.”
Everton go into Sunday's game level on points with Tottenham, with the North London club's superior goal difference earning them a higher place in the table. R ehanne Skinner's team are likely to be buoyed by their 8-0 victory over Brighton last weekend, but Sorensen feels his team are well-prepared for the clash after a week of preparation.
“I feel confident, he said. "We were not happy on Sunday. It was probably the first game of the season where we weren’t happy with the performance.
"To be fair, (United) were also ruthless in what they did. I still think we did well in big parts of the game but we weren’t consistent enough throughout. We need to be that against Tottenham.
"We know its a good team. They've been together a while now. They obviously had some new recruits this summer but they look like a team that will train and work hard. We played them in pre-season with four or five youth players and that was a tough game but I think we’ve come a further way now and I think we can match them, but we know its going to be a tough game.”
Asked about where his team can finish up after a bright start to the season, the Everton boss said: " It’s a long season. We’re only six games into it but let's see.
"I think we can compete against on the day against all teams but we can also lose to all teams so its up to us to be as prepared as we can and have the squad going int the right direction. Then let's look at the table when we’re done."
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