Man Utd and England hit by huge injury blow as Ella Toone feared out for rest of 2024 due to injury and set to miss Lionesses' games against the USWNT and Switzerland

Toone was ruled out of Manchester United's Women's Super League clash against Leicester City at King Power Stadium on Sunday due to injury. The Red Devils went on to win the game 2-0 to maintain their unbeaten start to the league season but will now have to cope without their Lioness for a longer spell.

Daily Mail's Kathryn Batte has now reported that Toone has suffered a tear in her calf and is set to miss at least six weeks of action. The timeline of her injury means that the attacking midfielder will not feature again for Manchester United in 2024 and will also miss England's friendlies against the United States and Switzerland on November 30 and December 3.

Manchester United boss Marc Skinner told reporters after the win over Leicester: "She will miss the next two games – Everton and Chelsea - and then we will see what the extent of the injury is after that. We are hopeful she will be available for England – we don’t know the extent yet."

Toone's absence from Manchester United's squad for their clash at King Power Stadium meant that the 25-year-old missed a Women's Super League match for the Red Devils for the first time since their promotion to the WSL at the beginning of the 2019/20 season. The Lionesses star had appeared in the previous 96 league games in a row for United, the most by an outfield player for the same club in league history.

The Lionesses star will obviously try her best to shorten her recovery period. However, if the injury timeline provided is accurate, she will likely only be able to return to action for Manchester United's first clash of 2025 when they take on city rivals Manchester City at Etihad Stadium on January 19.