Brian Sorensen has confirmed Everton will be without goalkeeper Emily Ramsey for this weekend's Women's Super League clash with Aston Villa.
Ramsey - on loan at Everton from Manchester United - earned her first senior England call up last month following a string of impressive displays for the Blues. However, the 22-year-old was forced to return to her club without making an appearance for the Lionesses after picking up an ankle injury in training.
While the young shot stopper is set to be sidelined for Sunday's contest at Walton Hall Park, Sorensen insists she is in good spirits and is working hard to get back onto the pitch as soon as possible.
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"She’s in good spirits and hopefully it goes smoothly coming back," the Everton boss said. "Things like that happen. We saw the training video back of how it happened and its just unfortunate.
"That’s how it is in football. She was really happy to be in the (England) squad and also had a couple of days to showcase herself so she’s now just working to get back to full fitness."
Defender Sara Holmgaard is also out with a hip flexor issue but Sorensen's ranks have been bolstered by the return of centre back Katrine Veje, who hasn't featured for the Blues since October due to a knee problem. Sunday's clash will mark Everton's first competitive fixture since their goalless draw with league leaders Manchester United on February 5, and Sorensen says the prolonged break has only served to make his squad more determined to continue their impressive form in the WSL.
"It’s been a month since we last played so it's good to have everyone back after the international break. We’ve had time to prepare for the Villa game which has been nice," he said.
"The girls are super professional so actually (the time away) creates an extra hunger to come back and show where we’re at. From a confidence point of view, we were really happy about (the United) game.
"We took a step in the right direction against the top four. We weren’t so happy with the way we played without the ball but overall I think we matched them in terms of intensity and I think we did that which brings us confidence that we can have that level.
"We also kept a clean sheet against a top opponent so we can take that into games going forward."
In terms of this weekend's opponents, Lucy Hope's 57th minute strike was enough to seal the three points for Everton in the revese fixture at the Poundland Bescot Stadium in October, and Sorensen believes his side can take confidence from their previous meetings with Carla Ward's side into Sunday's game.
"We’ve played them three times in total in the league, Conti Cup and in pre-season so I think we have a good idea of what they want to do," he said. "They’ve been doing good, same as us.
"I think we managed to control the game when we played against them but they’ve also brought in some good players so we’ll see how that affects the match up. We’re confident in ourselves and ready for that game."
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