NewsLFC Women injury update: Latest on Fisk, Silcock, Kiernan and more

The Reds welcome the Blues to St Helens Stadium in a 1pm GMT kick-off in the quarter-finals of the Subway Women's League Cup.

Ahead of the contest, Taylor gave the latest on the health of his players during a pre-match press conference at the AXA Melwood Training Centre.

"Grace Fisk is closer, but still not back with the main group," he told reporters. "There's an outside chance for the weekend, but it looks very slight. Obviously we've lost Gemma Bonner from the last game due to the red card. Hannah Silcock is really struggling as well and Leanne Kiernan.

"I think Leanne and Hannah, potentially we could get them for Sunday. It's looking like we're going to be pretty light again, particularly more so from the sidelines. That's kind of where we're up to outside of the longer termers like Marie [Höbinger], Sophie [Roman Haug] and Sam Kerr."

On Kiernan and Silcock's injuries, Taylor added: "Leanne's had a problem with swelling on her foot, so it's really uncomfortable with the boot. It's kind of quite severe bone bruising, which has taken longer to settle down. She actually had it before she made a couple of appearances for us more recently and then has caught it again in training.

"She's currently in a boot, which looks severe and looks like when you see someone in a boot they're potentially out of the game on Sunday. But we're hoping if it can settle quickly enough we might get her tomorrow. If not, we might even get her [back on] Sunday morning.

"Hannah has a really bad dead leg. It was the challenge she picked up straight away in the game she played previously at West Ham. We had to remove her from the pitch, which we didn't really want to at that point being down to 10 players, but we ended up having to do it. It's just really not settling down at all. So, there's a slight chance again for the weekend."

Taylor also confirmed goalkeeper Rafaela Borgraffe remains unavailable for selection, though is hopeful several members of his squad will be ready to return after the winter break.

"Some, yes. Some, no. I think Risa [Shimizu] should be back with us after the break," he added. "She's looking quite good in terms of her recovery. I think Sam Kerr is going to be the best part of three to four months. That's going to be difficult. I don't think she'll be back after the break. Obviously you know Marie and Sophie. You'd like to think Hannah and Fisky will be back at that point and available for selection."

• Training photos: LFC Women prepare for quarter-final clash with Chelsea