Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has moved to allay fears over Tameka Yallop's fitness for the Women's World Cup after the veteran injured her knee in Australia's 1-0 win over France.
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Yallop, who has had a wretched run with injuries over the past year, came on the 62nd minute on Friday for her first game since injuring her ankle in April.
Six days out from Australia facing Ireland, the 32-year-old hyper-extended her left knee in the 74th minute and was substituted nine minutes later.
The Matildas, including Yallop, arrived in their Brisbane camp on Saturday for their final few days of training ahead of Thursday night's opener but did not provide an update on her status.
"We had a break so when she was on the park she just wanted to push through and I said, 'bigger picture Meeks, bigger picture' and she said, 'OK, take me off then'," Gustavsson told reporters in Friday's post-match press conference.
"She wanted to stay, so it was me reminding her what this is about. It's the bigger picture.
"So if this was a World Cup game, I think she would have kept playing. Hopefully by taking her off we saved some recovery time in that and rehab time.
"I hope it's just a knock and nothing that is torn or tweaked, but I can't comment on that yet."
Captain Sam Kerr appeared to have an icepack on her hamstring after she was taken off in the 62nd minute, but gestured to fans to relax when the camera panned to her.
"She is one of those that we really wanted to manage minutes on as well," Gustavsson said.
"We have trained hard to be prepared physically because the players that came from England, for example, haven't played a game for a long time, so we trained them hard.
"In a closed-doors game a week ago, we played 90 minutes for the ones that needed 90 minutes and then we knew they would play maybe 60 (minutes) today to make sure they had the preservation plan to fly against Ireland - it's all about Ireland.
"We knew that was risky with tonight's game to do that but we trust the depth in the roster to do it.
"Sam was a pre-planned sub. We talked to her at halftime if she was ready to pull out, but she said another 10 to 15 would be good for her physically for the Ireland game."
When asked if Kerr was already managing a hamstring issue, Gustavsson said: "I'll leave that to the medical team."
Defender Alanna Kennedy, in her first international since September, came off in the 79th minute, seemingly with cramp.
"We hope she's OK," Gustavsson said.
"She had a little bit of a niggle but hope it's just a niggle."
Australian Associated Press
