ENGLAND defender Lucy Bronze has welcomed a groundbreaking new study that aims to understand the widespread occurrence of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in professional women’s football.

Project ACL is a joint initiative by Fifpro, Leeds Beckett University, the Professional Footballers’ Association and Nike, who are all providing expertise and funding.

Some reports have suggested ACL injuries are two to six times more likely to occur in women than men, with only 6 per cent of scientific literature devoted to female athletes, despite some of the game’s top talents like Beth Mead, Leah Williamson, Sam Kerr and Vivianne Miedema missing significant recent spells with the problem.