by Rachel Gore (20/3/25)
Above: Amandine Miquel. Photo: LCFC Women.
Leicester City manager Amandine Miquel spoke of the extensive injury crisis gripping the club ahead of an important meeting with top-five hopefuls Brighton and Hove Albion.
Currently, Leicester City sit in tenth place in the WSL table with only three points separating them from both ninth place and twelfth place, which is the bottom of the table. As Miquel’s side battle to stay out of the relegation zone, opponents Brighton are hoping to take home the three points and consolidate their spot in the top five.
Leicester City currently have their “highest level of injured” footballers and when asked to clarify which players will be unavailable on Sunday, Miquel said “so many, I can’t tell you”. She added: “some of them might come back this game, half of this game, we’ll see”.
One of these injured players is Ruby Mace, a young baller who has recently experienced her first camps with the senior Lionesses. Upon injury there was concern that Mace had injured her ACL with Miquel saying that Mace “was a bit worried”. Subsequent tests revealed that Mace did not suffer an ACL injury and Miquel said that she would “prefer not giving any detail” on the exact injury that occurred. The manager said that she is hopeful that Mace will be seen in a match before the end of this season.
Another high profile injury was to Lena Petermann, who is “really disappointed” with her injury but “knows it’s part of the job”. Miquel is doubtful that Petermann will return this season but did say that “miracles happen, so why not”.
It has been two weeks since Leicester City have played a competitive fixture with their last WSL matches seeing them face Chelsea and Manchester United. Speaking on these matches, Miquel said, “the last games we played were not easy”.
Leicester’s last two matches against Brighton were “very close” and therefore Miquel has faith that her team can get “upfront and score”. On Sunday, against Brighton, Miquel’s squad will “have to make sure” that they’re defensively “strong” whilst also “improving offensively”.
Their clash with Brighton will be played at home and the club have a much better record of winning home games than away fixtures. Despite this, Miquel said that her team “have not given up on winning away”, “it’s not forbidden” and that they “are allowed to win away”.
During their two-week break, Miquel’s side played a friendly against Sheffield which “was a good opportunity for everyone to get some minutes”. The Leicester players had also been looking forward to resting and Miquel clarified that “they did have some rest”, however she also emphasised that “professional football players days are not that long so they do have a lot of rest in the afternoons”. Despite this period of rest, Miquel does not think that the WSL is “the type of league where you can relax”.
Miquel believes that her squad “are feeling refreshed” and are, therefore, ready for Sunday’s fixture. Kick off will occur at 15:00 on Sunday 23 March at the King Power Stadium.
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