Liverpool women’s defender Mia Enderby was rushed to hospital with a suspected neck injury in an accident during the defeat to Tottenham, resulting in the game being stopped for more than 10 minutes. Enderby appeared to fall awkwardly on his head while attempting an aerial ball and was stretchered off the pitch after extensive treatment.
Due to the extended stoppage, 22 minutes of additional time were added at the end of the match. The 20-year-old has featured in all six of Liverpool’s Women’s Super League games this season and was named in the starting eleven against Spurs. In a subsequent press conference, manager Gareth Taylor said he had not yet consulted with the club’s medical team, but said the injury situation was “not a pleasant one to watch”.
“I hope she’s OK. At one point I thought she might come back in the sense of getting up and playing again, but with these types of injuries it’s really important that we take care of them.”
Tottenham overturned the deficit with goals from Toko Koga and Bethany England and secured all three points. Liverpool took the lead with a goal from Beata Olsson.
Enderby signed a new two-year contract in the summer and scored six goals in 42 appearances in his first two seasons with the club. This compounds injury concerns, as Liverpool are already without Marie Hobinger and Sophie-Romain Haug, who suffered anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries before the international break.
Taylor bemoaned his team’s plight, saying: “Unfortunately we didn’t have anything from the sideline today. It’s not an ideal situation having to play 21-year-old Hannah Silcock on the right wing. We’ll just have to fight through it.”
“The message is clear: we, the staff, the players and everyone at the club are working hard to turn this situation into a better one. But it will take a little time and a little support. Unfortunately, as we see at the moment, we are a bit devastated, but we will keep fighting.”
The Reds manager confessed that he does not expect to be at the top of the WSL, but wants more consistency in performances and results. He added: “We don’t expect to be at the top of the league, but we are realistic and know this is the start of a really, really long project.”
“But of course you want to see positive moments and I think we’ve had glimpses of that. We just can’t sustain it long enough in a 90-minute game.”
