Steph Catley glad to finally have Matildas superstar Sam Kerr back after two-year injury

Sam Kerr is back in the green-and-gold and the woman who has been wearing the captain’s armband in her stead could not be happier.

Steph Catley, who has been leading Australia during Kerr’s two-year absence with an ACL injury, said she’s thrilled her teammate’s long recuperation has finally paid off.

Kerr looks set to retake the amband, which Hayley Raso wore in Cardiff on Saturday to mark her 100th cap, should she start against England in Derby on Tuesday (Wednesday 6am AEDT).

Catley, who was rested for that 2-1 win against Wales, said it’s good to have Kerr back.

“We’ve missed her over the last two years. She’s our captain, she’s our goal-scorer for the most part, she’s always a massive threat,” Catley said.

“She’s been a staple in our team for many, many years. Just to have around the group, she’s incredible. Having her around and back on the pitch is amazing.”

Kerr was injured during a training camp with her club Chelsea in January 2024. She finally returned to club football this season, but with her minutes managed carefully had not started a match until lining up against Wales.

“She’s worked so, so hard to get to this point,” added Catley.

“It’s been a really hard time for her. As a friend, it’s just nice to see her get the rewards of hard work and be back and be healthy and I think for world football, it’s nice to see one of the best players in the world out there again.”

Matildas manager Joe Montemurro is equally pleased to have Kerr at his disposal.

“You just feel the energy having Sam back,” he said.

“Sam’s been an important part of an amazing group that’s really come together, an important component.”

Montemurro is juggling three targets for the match. Victory over England would be a boost to prestige, confidence, and a small consolation for the shattering Women’s World Cup semi-final loss two years ago, in which Kerr’s stunning equaliser was not enough.

He is also building towards the Asian Cup, which Australia will launch against Philippines in Perth on March 1.

Then there’s the long-term target of the 2027 Women’s World Cup, hosted by Brazil, who showed their credentials by beating England in Manchester on Saturday.

“The first camp (under Montemurro) in June, July was to really just instil some messages on how we want to play and our methodology and processes,” he said.

“It was really exciting to look at 30-odd players, because we had four games.

“We’re at a point now where we start to stabilise the squad. It’s really important that we play top quality opponents to make sure we know where we’re at.

“We’re not on a journey just to just to prepare for the Asian Cup; it’s important this squad is prepared for that, but also gives us momentum for post-Asian Cup.”

England were bullied physically by Brazil and, despite facing ten players for an hour, failed to recover from going behind early — the fourth match in succession they have conceded first.

Their coach Sarina Wiegman disputed the view “that we have slow starts all the time” but Australia are likely to try and press high and early against a midfield that has quality but can appear ponderous.

Montemurro said all his squad are fit while England, who are without several leading players, hope to have back Hannah Hampton, who won the Yashin Trophy goalkeeper of the year award last month.

Pride Park is sold out with 34,000 tickets bought.