“Early indications are…”: Skinner provides highly encouraging fitness update on key attacker ahead of semifinal

Manchester United Women take on Arsenal in the League Cup this evening, aiming to secure a place in the final. The Red Devils drew with the Gunners in the league earlier in January and also dispatched Burnley 5-0 in the FA Cup fourth round at the weekend. Squad updates Head coach Marc Skinner provided an update in his pre-match press conference regarding the health of his squad ahead of the match. The club’s website carries comments from his pre-match press conference, where he stated that, thankfully, Norwegian Elisabeth Terland will likely be fit for the match. He stated, “the early indications are that she will be okay. She did take a knock, I think the keeper hit through her leg, I think it was almost like a dead leg but it’s got a little bit easier.” Skinner also claimed that the highly influential Fridolina Rolfo will be back soon. He said, “so, Frido [Rolfo] still won’t be available, maybe she might be back at the weekend but hopefully she will be back at the latest next weekend.” The coach added, “Leah [Galton] is out, again we’re working back with her, [Ella] Tooney is obviously a little bit longer term and Gabby [George], hopefully in the next couple of weeks we can see her back on the field so that will be good. Apart from that, I think everybody is available and ready to go.” Layla Drury Skinner also had some kind words for 16-year-old Welsh talent Layla Drury, who scored United’s fifth goal at the weekend and made history by becoming the club’s youngest ever goalscorer. Reflecting on her performance, he said, “she did fantastically well when she came on. I can’t tell you enough, she’s got that attitude. You already know as a manager, she has this ‘I don’t care’ attitude around the challenge she’s going to face.” He also added, “she has great physical attributes, which I think affords her great time on the field. So I’m not saying that she’s going to play every minute, but she puts herself in a space where she can be thought about contention even at 16. So it doesn’t mean she’s going to disappear out of the team. She might be in the squad going into this game.” Rotation The return of key players from injury, along with the January signings of Hanna Lundkvist, Lea Schuller and Ellen Wangerheim, has given United real squad depth for the second half of the season. Commenting on the need to rotate, he claimed, “my job isn’t to keep players happy. It really isn’t. My job is to give them opportunity. Their happiness should never be just on whether they play or not, because it’s about the right opportunity to be able to play.” All-time record Man United Women vs Arsenal TournamentMatches playedWinsDrawsLosses League13355 Cup2101 Total15456 Featured image Ben Roberts Photo via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.