Sam Kerr has offered a smiling, upbeat message as she begins her long recovery after undergoing surgery to repair her anterior cruciate ligament.
The Matildas captain had her operation on Thursday following her season-ending, and almost certainly Olympics-ending, injury that she suffered while on a warm-weather training break in Morocco with English champions Chelsea.
Posting a social media message from her hospital bed, accompanied by a picture showing her right leg strapped up, a beaming Kerr offered a thumbs up to fans with the message: “On the road to recovery.”
She also wanted to know if anyone had any recommendations of things to watch on Netflix during her recuperation.
Doubtless, one of the first things she’ll be tuning into is the start of Chelsea’s FA Cup title defence on Sunday (Monday AEDT) as the Blues play West Ham in the fourth round at their Kingsmeadow home.
It’s sure to be a particularly hard watch for the 30-year-old Kerr, who has made the Cup her own domain in recent years, having scored five terrific goals in the last three Wembley finals, all won by Chelsea.
In the 2021 final, Kerr’s brilliant double helped sink Arsenal 3-0, she again notched a brace in the 3-2 win over Manchester City in 2022 and, last season, she notched the winner in the 1-0 triumph against Manchester United.
But Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, while saying everyone at the club is thinking of Kerr, knows her star player would only be concerned about her teammates continuing the Cup-winning streak.
“I know Sam would expect me to say nothing less,” said Hayes, whose own trophy cabinet already includes five FA Cups.
“Our focus has got to be on the players that are fit and a good challenge for me is to find those solutions.
“I trust in the squad that we have.”
West Ham could give a debut to Kerr’s Matildas midfield colleague Katrina Gorry.
Another Matilda who can already celebrate a place in the last-16 is the ever-improving Clare Wheeler, who featured in the first tie of the weekend, Everton’s 3-0 fourth-round win at Aston Villa on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
