ELLA TOONE could be in contention for Manchester United when they begin their Women’s FA Cup defence against West Brom on Saturday.

The England midfielder has been sidelined since November after picking up a calf injury during training, but boss Marc Skinner hinted that she could feature this weekend.

Skinner provided an injury update, saying: “Lisa [Naalsund] is still out, Lisa will probably be a few weeks before she’s back on the grass with us and training with the team.

“Ella Toone is back and hopefully in the squad, she’ll hopefully be able to play some part against West Brom. We are looking at that.

“Apart from that everyone else is in contention.”

When asked how many minutes Toone could manage, Skinner replied: “Around half-an-hour is probably sensible. It’s just the competitive kind of chaos nature of a game you can’t control a little bit more.

“She trained yesterday with the team, working on shape and stuff and was really sharp. Hopefully we can get her into the game and introduce her after the long time she’s had out.”

United are the current holders of the FA Cup after earning a thumping 4-0 win over Tottenham in the 2024 final to claim their first major trophy.

They start their defence with a fourth-round clash against third-tier West Brom, who play in the National League North Premier Division, and Skinner insisted United will bring the “best” of their game.

He said: “It’s the start of a new part of the season, the energy’s big and nobody’s played games yet so it’s going to be a little bit of post-rustiness.

“We start at West Brom, it’s going to be a good game. It’s the joys and trials and tribulations of an FA Cup, I’m sure they’ll enjoy that, but the biggest respect we can give to them is by playing the best of our game.”