Manchester United will be without Ella Toone and Anna Sandberg for the League Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday, manager Marc Skinner confirmed.
Toone last played in December and is yet to feature for United in 2026. She suffered a hip injury forcing her on to the sidelines for both the Champions League play-offs and the FA Cup fifth round loss against Chelsea.
"Tooney [Ella Toone] has been back on the field training. We still don't have a definitive timeline, but we are looking around the back end of this window," Skinner said of her expected return.
"Hopefully Tooney can be back before the Tottenham game [April 26], but it could be earlier than that. It's just depending on how she goes."
Skinner confirmed Sweden international Sandberg is also set to return at the end of April after the international window. The defender went off at half-time during the first leg of the Champions League play-offs against Atletico Madrid with a calf injury.
However the side will be boosted with the return of summer signing Fridolina Rolfö, who featured for Sweden during the Nations League. Jayde Riviere is also in contention having missed the international break.
Hinata Miyazawa is also unavailable for the cup final due to her participation with Japan for the Asian Cup. Chelsea also face absences in Sam Kerr and Ellie Carpenter due to the tournament.
She could miss the upcoming Champions League quarter finals against Bayern Munich if Japan reach the final due to travel back from Australia, however, Skinner said contingencies are being considered.
"We're looking at contingencies. We've spoken to Hinata, looking at flights, looking at risk safety for the player. But I've already noticed even looking at her minutes, she's done a little bit less so from our perspective, the aim will be trying to get her back into those Bayern games and the City game.
"But it'll be safely. And then what we'll look at afterwards is a space where she can then basically have some rest and recovery, but it all depends on a continuous conversation with her, how she feels, how she's presenting medically. We'll do all the screening. If she's available and wants to play, then obviously we'll look to bring her back from there," he added.
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United haven't beaten Chelsea in a cup final before, losing the 2025 FA Cup despite defeating the Women's Super League reigning champions during the 2024 semi-final, going on to win the final at Wembley.
They've also never made it to a League Cup final before whereas Chelsea have reached their seventh final.
"We know we played Chelsea literally our last game [2-1 loss, FA Cup], so we know how tough they are. We've played them in finals before and haven't come up with a win. So we know how difficult it is.
"We're not going into this final to try and be second best. We have to go into it and try and win the cup, but that's what we're here for. It's why you're at Manchester United and you have to understand that there's difficulty in that challenge, but that's what we're here for," he said.