NewsLFC Women fitness update: Kearns, Koivisto, Lawley, Micah and more

The Reds will continue to be without Emma Koivisto at Brisbane Road on Sunday, while Teagan Micah is also sidelined.

Beard will be able to call upon Missy Bo Kearns and Melissa Lawley, however, after they sat out the midweek Continental League Cup tie with Manchester City.

“Emma still won’t be available,” the manager reported at his pre-match press conference. “Mel and Bo will be back in the squad.

“Teagan Micah, she got a calf niggle away on international duty and unfortunately she broke down on Tuesday at training, so she won’t be available again this weekend.

“Apart from that, we’ve got everyone else available. [Niamh] Fahey, it was her first training session with the team today so she’ll be another couple of weeks at least as well.”

Asked about Shanice van de Sanden’s status after she started against City on Wednesday night, Beard said: “It’s going to take her a bit of time [to get up to full speed].

“I thought she had a great impact on Sunday. She was disappointed with her performance on Wednesday but we just didn’t find her in the right positions in that first half.

“I just had her in the office now going through her clips and we spoke about maybe the second half would have been more of a benefit to her because the game was a little bit more open.

“But you could just see the lift when she came off the bench on Sunday, not just with the team but with the stadium as well. She’s such an infectious character.

“The key thing is that we keep her fit. It’s going to be a gradual process for her, like it is with Leanne Kiernan. But we’re really pleased that we’ve got these types of changes from the bench because they are game-changing.”