Matildas coach Tom Sermanni has revealed Sam Kerr is due to return from her devastating knee injury in just over a month in another round of heartwarming news for the striker after she revealed she and her fiancée are expecting a baby.
Last Saturday the national team boss said he’d been kept in the dark about the Chelsea star’s anterior cruciate ligament injury, which she suffered during the English team’s Morocco training camp in January.
Kerr revealed she’s been dealing with ‘a little bit more going on than an ACL’ in a statement made in September – with Sermanni replying ‘absolutely not’ when asked if he knew what she was referring to.
But he took a very different position when he was asked about the Matildas skipper’s return to the field on Wednesday.
‘During her rehab there were a couple of little setbacks probably two or three months ago,’ he told SEN.
‘She’s overcome them now and she’s making a good recovery and is on track.
Sam Kerr (pictured with fiancee Kristie Mewis at a Chelsea match) has been out of action with a serious knee injury since early this year
Now the Matildas’ coach has revealed the superstar striker should be fit and raring to go by January in a welcome boost for the 31-year-old (pictured playing for Australia)
‘But she just wanted to make sure that she didn’t rush back as well.
‘Everything at this stage is going well and she should be back and ready to go by January.’
Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor also gave an update on Kerr’s condition on Wednesday, but wasn’t as definite in her prediction as the Tillies boss.
‘She’s on the pitch. Not practicing with the team yet, but certainly by the end of the year, she will be able to practice maybe with the team,’ Bompastor said.
‘It’s difficult for me to give you a good timeline and the right date, but she’s in a good place. She’s confident.
‘When I look at her and her rehab process, she’s doing really well and progressing day by day. I think’s really good, but too soon to tell a date.’
Assuming Sermanni is correct about Kerr, a January return to the field would mean she’ll miss four Matildas friendlies: two against Brazil on November 28 and December 1, plus another brace against Chinese Taipei on December 4 and 7.
Chelsea play their first game of 2025 on January 19 against West Ham, followed by Arsenal on the 26th.
Matildas boss Tom Sermanni (pictured) also revealed Kerr was wary of trying to rush back into action too soon
The update on Kerr’s condition comes just after she and her partner Kristie Mewis announced they are expecting a baby next year.
The pair took to Instagram to confirm the news, posting a heartwarming set of pictures of themselves in a photo booth while holding up a picture of Mewis’ scans.
The footballing duo were all smiles and shared a kiss as they celebrated the exciting news with their Instagram followers.
However, Kerr and Mewis were forced to turn off the comments on their post due to disgraceful homophobic comments.
Many fans took to the social media platform to congratulate the duo, with Kerr’s Australia team-mate, Mary Fowler, writing ‘Congratulations’ with a ‘heart-eye’ emoji.
However, some trolls used the joyful news as an opportunity to publish disgraceful and hurtful takes on the stars’ announcement.
One Instagram user wrote, ‘Ridiculous’ in the comments while another added: ‘Bro what is my striker doing.’
Earlier this week Kerr and Mewis (pictured) were forced to deal with a disgraceful homophobic backlash when they announced they’re expecting a baby next year
‘Nonsense,’ another social media user commented, while many others wrote, ‘How?’
Another added: ‘I don’t really know what to comment for love and respect I have for you but come on, you ladies should just stop deceiving yourselves.’
Kerr and Mewis have subsequently turned off the comments on their social media post.
One X user blasted some of the responses to the couple’s news, claiming Kerr’s English Women’s Super League team Chelsea had deleted a social media post celebrating the couple’s news.
‘Chelsea have now deleted the post about Sam and Kristie on this app and turned the comments off on Instagram,’ the X user wrote.
‘How in 2024 are we still seeing the same discrimination?
‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. It’s simple.’
