Michelle Agyemang will bounce back stronger – Renee Slegers

Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers has backed Michelle Agyemang to come back stronger after the teenage England striker’s season-ending knee injury.

Agyemang’s injury overshadowed England’s midweek friendly win against Australia when she was carried off on a stretcher after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament.

The 19-year-old was introduced as a second-half substitute but went down clutching her knee in an off-the-ball incident.

Slegers said “It’s a very sad time. It’s always sad when these moments happen, it’s horrible because you know that it will keep them away from the game for a long time, and it’s a long investment for those players to come back again.

“If you look at Miche specifically, I think she’s been doing so well. Her loan in Brighton has been really positive. She’s got all those minutes for England, contributing at the Euros, so she was in a really good place.

“So of course, it’s always the timing of this isn’t great, it’s not good timing. But she’s very strong and we’re very proud to have her.

“Miche is very strong. She’s a young adult but she’s very, very strong. So she will have the strength to come back and we will do everything we can to support her.”

Arsenal, fifth in the table and five points behind leaders Chelsea, have bounced back from successive defeats this month to Manchester City and Champions League rivals Lyon with wins against Brighton and Benfica.

Next up is Sunday’s trip to Leicester and Slegers added: “Results very, very mixed and not what we wanted. Performances same. So we want to look forward.

“We want to get the absolute best out of ourselves. Football will never be perfect, but (let’s) show bigger spells and really show our strengths on the pitch as a team, but also in our game of football.”

Chelsea will bid to extend their one-point lead at the top of the table on Saturday in their first meeting with London City Lionesses.

Blues boss Sonia Bompastor confirmed USA defender Naomi Girma could be included in the squad for the first time this season following a calf injury.

Bompastor said: “There is positive news because everyone has returned fit and healthy from the international break – and we also have Naomi back in the group.

“Naomi is a top-class player and we want to have all of those players on the pitch. We want to enjoy watching them play and she’s an important player for us. I’m hoping that she will now be able to stay on the pitch for as long as possible.”

Manchester City are hot on Chelsea’s heels and are chasing a sixth straight win on Saturday at home against West Ham, while Manchester United will aim to extend their unbeaten league start on Sunday at Brighton.

Tottenham will bid to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat at Chelsea last time out and maintain their impressive start to the season by inflicting on Liverpool a sixth straight league defeat.

Everton have not won in the league since their 4-1 opening-day victory against their Merseyside rivals and they play at Aston Villa, whose only defeat this season was against Chelsea in September.