A leading medical expert says Matildas fans have reason to be upbeat about the chances of superstar striker Sam Kerr lining up for Australia later in the Women's World Cup.
Australia's captain and leading all-time goalscorer was ruled out of their opening 1-0 win over Ireland with a calf injury.
It was the first competitive game Australia had won without Kerr since the 2016 Olympic Games.
The Matildas, who kept the selection secret behind closed doors right up until naming their team on Thursday, say Kerr will be assessed after next Thursday's second Group B game against Nigeria in Brisbane.
Australia play Olympic champions Canada on Monday July 31 in their final group game, leaving Kerr racing the clock to be passed fit.
Coach Tony Gustavsson kept a tight lid on the severity of Kerr's complaint after his side struggled without their talismanic forward against the Irish in a frustrating and brutal tournament opener.
But according to Anthony Blazevich, a Professor of Biomechanics at Edith Cowan University, there are reasons for the Matildas boss to be optimistic about being able to deploy Kerr later in the tournament.
"The good news is that despite the fact that there's limited public knowledge of the severity of the injury, she was walking and she was standing," Professor Blazevich told AAP.
"If a calf injury is too painful, you're often limping.
"The fact that she appears to be walking normally and standing suggests it might be at the lower end (of severity).
"It's only guesswork, you can only guess that there's a chance that she'll still play in the tournament."
The ease in which a calf issue can continue to linger has been exemplified in the recent injury concerns of South Sydney NRL star Latrell Mitchell.
The Rabbitohs fullback and arguably the sport's biggest name was sidelined for a fortnight in May in the build-up to State of Origin I but missed the entire series and hasn't played in the intervening two months.
Football Australia hasn't confirmed the nature of Kerr's injury but Blazevich said the forward would not be able to play with painkilling injections because that could further aggravate the issue.
He said it was unlikely that Kerr would be made to ice her injury or take anti-inflammatories by FA's medical staff, instead they would look to get warmth into the muscle.
"Their physios will be working overtime with all their technologies and all the opportunities to try and get the tissue to heal itself as fast as possible," he added.
"They'll be getting her to walk and run slowly and gradually over the next whatever period they deem is reasonable to make sure that when she moves, she moves properly, so that she's not changing the way she moves."
