ARSENAL boss Renee Slegers today revealed that Beth Mead will be sidelined with a hairline fracture in her shin.

The England forward started for the Gunners during their 1-0 win against Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City last Sunday but was taken off in the 68th minute.

Mead was not in the squad for Arsenal’s Champions League knockout round play-off win over Leuven on Wednesday and, ahead of tomorrow’s WSL clash against Brighton, Slegers provided an update on Mead and goalkeeper Anneke Borbe.

She told a press conference: “Neke is still on assessment, so we have one more training to go. She’s progressing well, so we’ll see if she makes it, see how she responds today and how she goes tomorrow.

“Beth will be out for the block, she has a hairline fracture in her shin.”

Arsenal go into this weekend’s round of fixtures fourth in the table and only two points separate them from second-placed Manchester United, who host London City Lionesses.

Chelsea are third in the standings and will have Wieke Kaptein and Keira Walsh in contention for their clash against Liverpool but boss Sonia Bompastor revealed that Millie Bright will be unavailable after the England defender was brought off towards the end of Sunday’s 2-0 win over Tottenham.

Bompastor said: “Millie got a knock on her ankle. She won’t be available for the weekend. We assess her, she’s in a good place. Not available for the weekend, but we are hoping maybe to see her before the international break.

“We’ll go day-by-day and see how she recovers. She’s tough.”

After enduring a dismal start to the season, tomorrow’s opponents Liverpool have recently lifted off the foot of the table with two wins from their last three league games and Bompastor is expecting a different challenge to their last meeting, which saw the Blues run out 9-1 victors in the League Cup quarter-finals in December.

“They are probably in a different place since January. They signed some good players in different areas of the pitch,” she said.

“The game will be tough, they have strengths and we will have to focus on us. We have the quality to perform at home especially. This team have improved a lot from the last time we played them and we will have to be aware of that.”

Tomorrow’s other fixtures see Aston Villa host Tottenham, while Everton take on West Ham.