Vivianne Miedema could return to Manchester City's squad for Sunday's FA Cup fourth round tie after a three-month injury layoff.
Miedema has been out of action since October 9 due to a knee injury that required surgery, which kept her out of action.
The Dutch international, who left Arsenal as a free agent at the end of last season, has made just five appearances for City in all competitions and scored just two goals.
City play third-tier Ipswich Town in the FA Cup on Sunday, but Miedema's return comes at a crucial time, with the Manchester derby next for Gareth Taylor's side in the Women's Super League.
Although Taylor continues to have other injury problems at the top of the pitch, he is delighted to add Miedema, the all-time leading scorer in the WSL, back to his ranks.
“We have Viv back, which is very positive,” Taylor said. 'We can't discuss it with her right away. We'll have to rebuild her.
“It's fantastic to have Viv back because we know what a top player she is and the influence she has on others. Just by being there, she really helps other players to perform even better.”
“She just has that talent and she gives so much time and space to other players, while she also has real quality in herself. It's good to have her back.”
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“Some other players will last a little longer, maybe Bunny [Khadija Shaw] – of course Laurens [Hemp] and Alex [Greenwood]as we know, but Bunny was with us last week [at the Abu Dhabi training camp]which was good.
“She was training separately, but from what I saw she looked really good, she feels really good, so we'll see what that looks like for her.
“Whether we can get her back in the next period or not, we'll see, but hopefully we can because, again, similar to what we say about Viv and Alex, they are really influential players.”
Taylor also admitted there was “nothing really to report” about Chloe Kelly's contract situation, or a potential January move for the winger.
Kelly's current contract expires at the end of this season and she has made just three starts for City in all competitions and has struggled to find a place in the starting line-up.
Only one of those starts came in the WSL, in which she played a total of just 165 minutes and registered no goal involvement.
“Chloe was with us last week,” he added. “She looked very sharp. She looked fresh, [with] renewed energy and optimism for this period.
“But at the moment there is no news at all about any deal, so as long as that happens she is our player, she is part of the team, part of the squad.”
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