Khadija Shaw harm replace as Man City verify blow forward of Chelsea quarter-final

Manchester City could be without Khadija Shaw for both legs of their Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea after their record scorer suffered a hamstring injury during Saturday’s League Cup final defeat.

The striker was withdrawn before full time of City’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in Derby on Saturday, with the teams meeting for the second of four games in the space of 12 days on Wednesday in Manchester.

Shaw is the top scorer in the Women’s Super League this season while interim manager Nick Cushing confirmed that forward Aoba Fujino, who scored City’s equaliser in the final, will be out too on Wednesday.

“Two significant players missing. But for us, these moments give opportunities to other players,” Cushing said.

“Both of them are muscle injuries … the problem with these types of injuries, it’s going to take a few days to even diagnose how long the problem is. I think they are significant.”

City also play Chelsea in the WSL on Sunday before travelling to Stamford Bridge for the return leg next Thursday.

“When you have muscle injuries and you can’t diagnose the timeframe, it’s not going to be one you can turn around quickly,” Cushing added.

Chelsea are unbeaten in 28 games under Sonia Bompastor this season – winning 26 – and hold an eight-point lead in the WSL.

Neither Chelsea nor City have won the Champions League but the Blues have reached the semi-finals in the last two seasons.