Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers reflected on two season-ending injuries in pre press conference ahead of her side’s return to league action against Leicester City this weekend.

On-loan Brighton striker Michelle Agyemang tore her anterior cruciate ligament injury after coming on for England against Australia on Tuesday, with the extent of the injury confirmed on Thursday.

“Very sad news, of course,” said Slegers. I watched the game, so I saw it happen, and then a couple of days later, we got the confirmation and the result from the scan back. I haven't seen Mich yet. It's of course a very sad time. 

“When these moments happen, it's horrible because you know that it will keep them away from the game for a long time. It's a long investment for those players to come back again. If you look at Mich specifically, I think she's been doing so well. Her loan at Brighton has been really positive. She's had all those minutes for England, contributing, winning the Euros. 

“She was in a really good place, so of course the timing of this isn't great, it's never a good timing. But she's very strong and we're of course very proud to have her and we know that she has the strength to come back. We're going to do everything to support her.” 

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Agyemang joined Brighton on loan for a second season in a row as Arsenal looked to guarantee the striker more regular football, but her stint has been cut short. “Like I just said, it's bad timing, but often it's always bad timing,” said Slegers.

“I've gone through it twice as well, so I know what it does, how much strength it takes both physically, but not the least mentally to come back. But again, like I said, Miche is very strong, she's young, she's a young adult, but she's very, very strong. So she will have the strength to come back and we will do everything we can to support her.”

At the start of the international break, Arsenal confirmed that goalkeeper Manu Zinsberger had also ruptured her ACL, with the injury occurring in training. “It’s very hard for Manu, it’s always very sad when these things happen,” Slegers reflected. 

“She hasn't had big injuries through her career so it's something new for her. She said ‘I haven't done this, I don't know how to deal with this,’ but what I've seen is how the players have been so supportive of her and I see how the team comes together in those types of moments so she gets a lot of support from the team. 

“We have a fantastic set-up from a medical perspective and she will get all the help and support that she needs to be able to be as fit as possible to recover from this big injury. She hasn't done her surgery yet so that's where she's at. 

“She is with us, she's in the building and just contributed really well in the team meeting that we had so she's with us but unfortunately she won't be able to be out on the pitch and it's very very sad.”

The Gunners will be without Leah Williamson for Sunday's trip to Leicester City as the England captain continues her recovery from a knee injury.