'Not concerned' - Lionesses star Lauren James tipped to bounce back from hamstring injury as Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor provides Naomi Girma & Sam Kerr injury updates

James withdrew from the England squad in between the Lionesses' two April fixtures against Belgium, having come off at half time in the first of those matches with a hamstring issue. Chelsea last week confirmed that the winger "will be out for a period of time" with the injury but did not specify how long for, raising concerns among England fans ahead of this summer's European Championships.

James' absence has come at particularly tough timing for herself and Chelsea, too, as it meant the 23-year-old missed the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona on Sunday, which the Blues lost 4-1. As well as the second leg of that tie on Sunday, Bompastor's side have four Women's Super League outings remaining in their season, as well as an FA Cup final against Manchester United next month. It's unclear at this point if James will be able to be involved in any of these games.

On Tuesday, Bompastor admitted she couldn't give a timeline for James' return, but did say she wasn't "concerned" by the blow. "I think she'll come back quite well from that injury," she said. "It just takes time because hamstrings in women's football are sometimes quite big injuries, but I think Lauren will be fine. It's difficult to put a timeline [on it], because everyone is different and in the rehab I think everyone can react in a different way. But I'm not concerned about LJ. She will be back. It's just a question of time."

Bompastor was speaking in a press conference ahead of Chelsea's squad WSL clash with bottom side Crystal Palace on Wednesday, for which she confirmed the squad will be the same as the one that faced Barcelona. That is with the exception of centre-back Nathalie Bjorn, who will be "managed". Fortunately, that coincides with the return to fitness of Naomi Girma, who made her injury comeback at the weekend. "I don't think she will be fit enough to play 90, but she's fit enough to start the game, if she has to start," the Blues' boss added of the United States star.

That means that Sam Kerr is still not back from her ACL injury, either. The striker sustained the devastating blow in January of last year and has been working through a long rehab ever since. When Chelsea added her to their Champions League squad ahead of the knockout stages, fans were hopeful that it was a sign that the Australia international was almost ready to return. However, when asked if Kerr will play at all this season, Bompastor couldn't be sure.

"It's a difficult one for me to say, because again, everyone is different," she said. "Everyone reacts differently. So Sam is progressing in her rehab but I don't have enough elements to say if we will see her this season. Hopefully, yes, but it's difficult for me to say."

Chelsea's clash with Crystal Palace is the game in hand they hold over chasing Arsenal, who sit three points behind the WSL leaders with three matches of their own to play. The Blues will hope to extend their cushion to six points with victory on Wednesday, but will have to do so without James.