Millie Bright ruled out of League Cup final as Chelsea dealt more bad injury news but Sonia Bompastor can welcome key figure back for Man Utd clash

Bompastor confirmed in her pre-match press conference on Thursday that Bright will not feature on Sunday, when Chelsea take on Man Utd at Bristol City's Ashton Gate in the League Cup final. The former England defender limped off in the latter stages of the Blues' win over Tottenham last month after suffering an ankle knock, one which left her unable to feature in the wins over Liverpool and Man Utd, which preceded the recent international break. Bright has not been able to make enough progress in that window to be involved on Sunday, either, with Bompastor also unsure about when she will be back in action.

Speaking ahead of the final, in which Chelsea will look to retain the trophy they won by beating Manchester City last year, Bompastor said: "Millie won't be available for the Sunday game. It's taking a little bit longer than we expected. I don't have any time frame for her [return] right now."

Fortunately, Chelsea do have some good news on the injury front and it comes in Bright's centre-back position. So, while the former Lioness will not be able to feature in the League Cup final, Nathalie Bjorn is back for the first time since early December. Kadeisha Buchanan, who made her long-awaited return from an ACL injury just before the international break, is another player who can help make up for Bright's absence.

"We worked really well with them during the international break," Bompastor said of the pair. "We could train with the boys' academy. I want to thank them for that because they helped us really well to prepare the players for the game on Sunday. It will be good to have those two back in the squad as well."

However, perhaps in a way that sums up Chelsea's season, there was more bad news than good news in Bompastor's presser on the injury front. Mayra Ramirez has not played all season because of a hamstring issue that was sustained in pre-season and required surgery, and it appears she may not get on the pitch again until the new campaign after the Chelsea boss revealed she has suffered another setback in her recovery.

"Mayra was progressing well but she picked up a new injury in her rehab again," Bompastor explained. "It's been a tough season for her. I'm not sure we will see her until the end of the season, unfortunately. She's struggling mentally. That's normal. It's been a bit of a season for her with injuries and sometimes it's difficult to explain everything. I spoke with her yesterday. She's really low right now, that's normal, but everyone in the club is making sure we are supporting her in the right way and we are providing her what she needs."

Meanwhile, England defender Niamh Charles and United States forward Catarina Macario both also remained sidelined, with no timeframe on their returns.

"Niamh is still struggling a little bit with her ankle," Bompastor said. "I think she's still describing some pain and discomfort, not having a stable ankle. So I think we are sometimes making some progress, but when we are getting to a point where she is close to getting back to training sessions, I think we make some steps back. It's not going in a progressive way. It's unfortunate. For now, I don't have any timeframe and the same with Cat Macario. She's not making any progress and I don't have any timeframe on Cat as well, which is unfortunate."

Adding to the uphill task Chelsea face in dealing with all these injuries are the absences of both Ellie Carpenter and Sam Kerr for Sunday's final. Both are currently away at the Asian Cup with Australia, who take on North Korea in the quarter-finals on Friday. While Lucy Bronze can take up Carpenter's right-back role, Kerr's unavailability at centre forward is quite a blow given the injuries to Ramirez and Macario.

The Blues did beat Man Utd last time out, though, while dealing with many of the same absences, and they will hope for a similarly positive result in this rematch. Bompastor's side have fallen well short in their Women's Super League title defence this term but there are still three trophies on the table and winning the League Cup this weekend could provide the springboard for a strong end to the season.