2 hours ago
2
Image source, Getty Images
Melvine Malard has scored four goals in two WSL games for Manchester United
By
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter
Manchester United manager Marc Skinner says his players have the "boots they need" for Thursday's deciding Champions League qualifier at home to Norwegian side Brann.
Last week, United officials had to buy replacement boots from a local shop in Bergen, where Brann are based, after the players' were lost before the first-leg defeat in Norway.
The boots' absence was not noticed until the day of the game as United had trained at the club's Carrington base just outside Manchester before departure.
Club officials arrived at the Torshov Sport shop less than three hours before kick-off at 16:30 local time and bought 15 pairs of boots and 20 sets of shin guards.
"I would imagine we have got the boots [this time]! They have been training with them so they have them sorted," Skinner said on Wednesday.
"Everything is fine. The players are ready.
They all had the boots they needed for the [first leg] so there were no excuses and they took it really well.
"It was one of those things you don't want to happen, but it does happen. I don't know where the [lost] boots are but we're living in a modern world where boots can get sent very quickly so all the players have them now.
"They might not be the same ones but they are the boots they need for the game on Thursday [19:00 BST kick-off]."
United are looking to secure a place in the main Women's Champions League draw for the first time in their history.
They will be without defender Millie Turner at Leigh Sports Village as she was taken off on a stretcher in the second half of their 5-1 win over London City Lionesses on Sunday.
"It's a knee injury. We're still assessing but it's not an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or medial collateral ligament (MCL) - it's not the structure of the knee," said Skinner.
"We are just looking at the knee cap. She has another meeting at the end of this week and when it settles down, we'll know more.
"I can update you properly next week. But it's not what people probably feared, which was that it was an ACL, so that's good news."
Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie are back for another season of the Women's Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed
