Miedema could make comeback from ACL injury at Bristol City – Eidevall | OneFootball

Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall says that forward Vivianne Miedema could make the squad to face Bristol City at Ashton Gate this evening.

Miedema has been sidelined for more than nine months with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury but she is nearing a return to competitive action.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Arsenal boss Eidevall indicated that there is a chance that Miedema could return to the squad for this evening’s trip to the South West.

“Viv is really close to returning to play and maybe she can make the squad (against Bristol City),” Eidevall said. “It would be a big thing for us as well.”

It was proposed that Miedema could rebuild her fitness whilst playing for Arsenal in Under-21 fixtures. Eidevall said that The Gunners opted against that plan and she has instead featured in behind-closed-doors games in recent weeks.

He said “Our Under-21s play their home matches on 3G. It’s not ideal for Viv to go on to play on that turf which makes it really complicated. It looks good on paper for Viv to go and play with the reserves but in reality, it’s not ideal because we don’t play on natural grass pitches.

“What we have done instead is that we have played internal midweek games with referees coming here to London Colney to help us consistently during this block. That’s been important for the whole team but also for Viv, so that she has been able to integrate back into the squad. It is something that resembles more of a competitive game but just behind-closed-doors.”

Arsenal’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Bristol City kicks-off at 6.45pm this evening.