Hemp will be in City squad to face Leicester, says Cushing | OneFootball

Nick Cushing says Lauren Hemp will be part of City’s squad for Sunday’s Barclays Women's Super League trip to Leicester City.

The England international hasn’t played since November 2024 with a knee injury, but the boss confirmed in Friday’s press conference that he anticipates she will play some part this weekend.

Cushing also shared a positive update on Club captain Alex Greenwood as we approach a must-win game if we’re to keep hopes of Champions League qualification alive.

“The squad is looking slightly healthier than it has done over the past few weeks,” he began.

“We’ve had Alex [Greenwood] and Lauren [Hemp] in training.

“It’s been good to get them into competitive training and prepare them for the upcoming games.

“Lauren will be in the squad, that's a huge boost for the club and we’ll continue to push the remaining players.

“We have a day before we need to pick the squad but that will give us confidence.”

WATCH: Nick Cushing's pre-match press conference | Leicester (A)

There was more positive news on the fitness front, with the boss announcing that German defender Rebecca Knaak has recovered from the exertion of her return to action last weekend.

Knaak was substituted after an hour of the draw with Everton after two months sidelined with injury.

“She came out of the game against Everton because we wanted her to be ready to be able to get through 90 minutes,” stated Cushing.

“She came through the 60 minutes after not playing for so long really successfully. It means we have more of a healthier squad than we’ve had recently.”

WATCH: Extended Highlights: City 4-0 Leicester

Finally, Cushing also updated on Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, stating that the Jamaican isn’t close to getting back on the pitch at this stage.

“Bunny is not with the team in the sense of training so won’t return imminently,” he summarised.

Leicester v City app coverage

The Official Man City App will have all bases covered from the Midlands throughout the afternoon.

Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre at 13:30 (UK).

To be alerted to every key moment of the action, make sure you have push notifications turned on to keep up to date on all the action, including goals, red cards and team news.

Highlights and a full-match replay for CITY+ subscribers will also be available from midday on Monday.