Team news | Updates on Sombath, Naz and Oroz
Martin Ho reports that Alice Sombath could feature in our Barclays Women’s Super League opener against West Ham United on Sunday but admits that they have been managing the defender’s fitness since her arrival.
Joining us in July, 2026, from OL Lyonnes, the France international has yet to feature in a Lilywhite shirt, having not featured in any of our four pre-season games last month.
However, speaking to the media on Friday afternoon ahead of our clash with the Hammers at Brisbane Road, our Head Coach revealed that they have been managing her fitness since arriving in north London, getting her prepared for the ‘intensity’ of the league.
“Potentially”, Martin told the media when asked whether Alice could feature this weekend. “We'll just see how she gets through these days. She's been training with us, and we just wanted to make sure that she wasn't breaking down as much as she was when she was in Lyon.
“She had quite a few injuries and small niggles. What I'd rather do in the short term is make sure we get it right, so she's comfortable psychologically and she's in a good space. Physically, she can cope with the demands and intensity of this league. Alice is a wonderful player and someone I really, really wanted.
“We got her over the line. I want to make sure that we have Alice for the long term and not just in short-term spells with injuries. We've just managed that ourselves to make sure that she becomes more robust to get used to the intensity of this league, as you know and everyone else knows, it's very demanding physically. I want to make sure that we give her the best chance to succeed here.”
He also confirmed that our long-term injuries Clare Hunt, Jess Naz and Maite Oroz remain out, although revealed that the latter two have returned to small parts of training.
"Jess, Maite and Clare, the long-term injuries, are the same. Those three are still to recover. Jess and Maite have been on the pitch, doing a little bit of training to integrate in small parts, which is nice to see and ready to go for them in terms of confidence. Everyone else is available, and once we get the medical report back tomorrow, we can make decisions on them.”
He later added about Clare: “Clare still recovering from her injury with her knee. I know it can take different timescales in terms of how long that takes. She's still recovering and working with the medical team to make sure that she gets herself back in training as soon as possible."
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