NewsLFC Women team news: Olivia Smith, Alejandra Bernabe and more

Due to a concussion, the Canada international is set to miss the fifth-round clash, which kicks off at 12.30pm GMT on Sunday.

Manager Matt Beard does not have any other fresh fitness concerns and Alejandra Bernabe – the third of the Reds’ January loan signings – could be in line for a debut.

“Smithy is out with concussion,” Beard explained at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.

“Jas [Matthews], [Niamh] Fahey and Hannah [Silcock] are still out. Obviously Faye [Kirby] has only had 45 minutes so we will be building her back up over the next sort of two to three weeks with U21 minutes. And then hopefully by then she’ll be in contention.

“Apart from that, everyone else is fit.”

On the possibility of Bernabe featuring, he added: “She’ll be in the matchday squad, that’s for sure.”

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Kirby made her first match appearance since sustaining an ACL injury in September 2023 when she featured for half of an U21s friendly at the AXA Melwood Training Centre on Wednesday night.

“She has been out so long and she has been so patient coming back,” said Beard. “It was great for her to get that first outing and now we’ll gradually build her minutes up.

“I had a chat with her yesterday on the phone; it’s like getting all the first little ticks out of the way and then you can just remember that you’re a footballer.

“Obviously the injury she had was a bad one, it’s taken a year-and-a-half to get back in. She has worked incredibly hard, been incredibly patient and we’re really proud of her.”