Matildas coach Tom Sermanni says Sam Kerr is unlikely to return to action this year after he named an expanded Australian squad for four home friendly matches starting later this month.
The Chelsea striker injured her knee in January, and there were faint hopes her return was imminent, but as expected she wasn’t one of the 36 players named on Friday.
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Sermanni said the 31-year-old was “coming on well”, though he hadn’t spoken to her for a couple of weeks. “Her rehab is going really, really, really well,” he said, adding ACL injuries historically have required a full year’s recovery.
“Things are getting a little bit better in rehab, but in reality it’s still probably a 12-month injury, and Sam’s taking that time to come back to ensure that hopefully, when she comes back, she’s going to be completely fit and healthy.”
Kerr had mentioned on a BBC podcast in September said she had a “little bit more going on than an ACL”.
But Sermanni was adamant he was not aware of any other issues. “Absolutely not. If you’ve heard that, you’re telling me something I’ve not heard,” he said.
Despite the absence of Kerr, a galaxy of Matildas stars will be on show, including Mary Fowler, Hayley Raso, Steph Carpenter, Kyra Cooney-Cross and captain Steph Catley.
However it’s not clear which players will play which matches, and Sermanni encouraged fans to look forward to watching both the recognised and unheralded named.
“It’s a Matildas squad, I don’t want to talk about stars and non-stars,” he said. “There’s been a severe lack of opportunity for players to get in and be seen at international level, so from my perspective they’re all Matilda stars, and when they go on the field, they’re representing the Matildas whether it’s cap number one or cap number 201.”
Five players are part of the squad for the first time, including goalkeeper Morgan Aquino, midfielders Leah Davidson, Isabel Gomez, and Hana Lowry and defender Natasha Prior.
Apart from DC Power keeper Aquino, the others are part of a group of 16 who play in the A-League Women.
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Experienced Melbourne-based trio Alex Chidiac, Emily Gielnik and Chloe Logarzo have also been named after positive starts to the domestic season.
But North Carolina Courage winger Cortnee Vine remains out due to personal reasons. “We’ve had a chat within the last week,” Sermanni said. “She’s good, but she’s just not available for these upcoming games.”
The Scot provided no update on how long he would be in the role. “There’s no set time on it, you might have to put up with me for some time to come,” he said.
The Matildas play Brazil in Brisbane on 28 November, before another fixture three days later on the Gold Coast. Matches against Taiwan follow soon after in Melbourne and Geelong.