Alex Greenwood ruled out of Man City's trip to Arsenal with head injury

Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor says Alex Greenwood's welfare is paramount after confirming the defender will miss Sunday's WSL clash with Arsenal.

The 30-year-old was given oxygen on the pitch after suffering a nasty head injury in the early stages of England's 3-2 defeat to Belgium in the Women's Nations League on Tuesday.

Greenwood clattered to the floor after colliding with Belgian forward Jassina Blom and was carried off by medical personnel having received on-field treatment for 12 minutes.

"Of course she won't be available for the weekend," City boss Taylor said of Greenwood's availability for the weekend. "And we'll make sure that her return-to-playing timeframe is managed in the right way, so that outside of everything else that's going on, the one thing that is paramount is Alex's health and her welfare, so we'll make sure that's looked after in the right manner.

"It was a nasty blow, first and foremost," Taylor said of the incident. "There was a lot of concern regarding Alex at the time, at that moment. So we've gone through - and they [England] needed to previously as well - all of the necessary protocols that come with these types of head injuries."

England manager Sarina Wiegman revealed after the game that Greenwood was up on her feet despite suffering a concussion, but Taylor was quick to stress that the welfare of the former Manchester United full-back - who will likely miss next week's clash with the Red Devils as well - was of paramount importance and that she'd need to see a specialist to determine the severity of the blow.

"Of course it was a bit of a scary moment for her, and an uncomfortable moment for her," he continued. "But she's a very brave player, Alex, she's very determined, she's so brave in everything she does and the way she plays, and of course she's frustrated, because it means she'll miss the weekend.

"But she's pretty excited about what we've done this season so far and how we're looking, and she's played a big part in that as well. Of course her welfare is the most important thing and we'll make sure we get that right as a club. We've had good communication with England, her handover was really good. so she's now back in our care.

"Of course, no one wants to see that. It's about understanding and managing that for Alex, that she's supported in the right way. Probably, knowing Alex, that'll be ahead of what she probably should do, but we'll make sure that we manage that in the right way."

City's unbeaten start to the 2023/24 WSL season will be on the line against Arsenal at Meadow Park, and Taylor's under no illusions of how significant Greenwood's absence could be for his side.

"Losing a player like Alex, there's no doubt, and it rocked England the other night, you could see it, as soon as she went off they [England] deteriorated, so yes of course she's a big player for us," he said.

"But as I've said previously, the strength in us this season is the squad that we have. We have capable players that are knocking on the door continuously every day and nothing changes with that. It's a tight turnaround from the international break in terms of our training opportunities but we're ready and looking forward to the challenge."

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