She should be back for the third group game against Canada, but Australia need to negotiate three-time African champions Nigeria without Sam Kerr and Mary Fowler first.
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News broke on Wednesday that Mary Fowler had suffered a concussion at training on Tuesday, whilst Kerr is battling her calf injury that kept her out of the first match.
The Super Falcons held reigning Olympic gold medallists Canada to a goalless draw in their first outing as Australia handled the pressure to beat Ireland meaning the Matildas are on top of the group (pending the result of Canada against Ireland played Wednesday evening in Perth).
Australia got the win in their opening match, but the feeling afterwards was not one of confidence that they can go on and win the tournament, rather, it was relief that they had gotten away with it without their inspirational skipper.
So will they do it?
On paper, it's a task which is simple. The Matildas - no.13 in the world - taking on Nigeria - who are no.40 - on home soil.
But it's a World Cup. Anything can happen. Look no further for proof of this than the Philippines win against fellow co-hosts New Zealand in Wellington.
But the Matildas are not New Zealand. They have a better team and even without Kerr and Fowler they have the players who can get the job done.
One of the major concerns against the Irish was that lack of ability to break the defence down. It is highly unlikely that Tony Gustavsson's team will come up against a similar back line when they play Nigeria.
The Irish were always going to come out in that 'low-block' set up with five at the back to slow the game down and disrupt the Matildas' attacking flow.
Nerves not an excuse anymore
The first half against Ireland was full of nerves from Australia. Whilst the second half was better, overall the performance was not one that will see a successful tournament for them in the end.
Whether or not it was the absence of Kerr or the almost 80,000 in attendance for the match, but the time for nerves is now over.
Nerves is a part of any sports persons career. It is how you deal with those jitters. Against Nigeria, it needs to be dealt with better from the majority of the Matildas squad.
Any changes?
Gustavsson will name a relatively unchanged starting 11 from the Ireland game for Nigeria except for Fowler and with the exception of at the back however where there could well be a change in the heart of defence. Alanna Kennedy has had a restricted build up for the game, meaning all time Australian appearance maker Clare Polkinghorne is set to be thrust into the starting team in her fifth World Cup.
Kennedy has sat out training sessions in the lead into the match whilst Polkinghorne has been put through her paces.
It really is a like-for-like replacement both in experience and quality. Polkinghorne will have the job of keeping up the communication with her young centre-back partner Clare Hunt, who still only has a handful of Matildas appearances to her name.
Squad rotation now a decision to make
The Matildas have a short turnaround between the Nigeria and Canada game. Australia play their second game on Thursday July 27 before travelling to Melbourne for their final group match on July 31.
The Kennedy/Polkinghorne swap is a perfect example of how a squad is used at a World Cup. Gustavsson said when he came into the role two years ago his main job given to him by Football Australia was to grow the talent pool of players in the national team. He has certainly done this and it will be put to the test the deeper Australia go in the tournament.