Could Canberra star be the Matildas' Olympics saviour after Kerr disaster?

Kerr had surgery on her anterior cruciate ligament on Thursday and is expected to miss the Olympic Games. Popovich, however, says Tony Gustavsson can find her replacement in Canberra.

He insists United skipper Michelle Heyman should emerge as a top candidate to replace the Chelsea forward for the upcoming Olympics.

"There's rumours around her being brought back into the Matildas squad because of Sam Kerr's injury," he said ahead of Canberra's Saturday clash with Adelaide in Sydney for Unite Round.

"I'd love to see that.

"I think that she could have played a part without any doubt in the World Cup.

"Everyone has their opinion... at the end of the day it comes down to Tony's decision, but I would back her.

"In a situation as a player even in the last 15 minutes, she's got that experience, that ability to create, the ability to get aerial in the box... it could be a game-changer for them."

Kerr, 30, underwent surgery on Thursday after she suffered an ACL injury in a "simple and innocuous" incident at a club training session in Morocco.

The crushing news came in Kerr's last contracted season at Chelsea, where speculation had been mounting about a lucrative re-signing, or a move elsewhere, and the Blues have still not commented on her future at the club.

The injury also impacted the Matildas' remaining Olympic qualifiers against Uzbekistan in February, and the Games in July, where Kerr was naturally expected to play a key role after her heroics in the latter matches of Australia's historic Women's World Cup tilt last year.

Though the true extent of Kerr's ACL injury remains unclear, similar setbacks in athletes usually take up to nine months to recover from, with six months the best case scenario - and rarest - timeline.

The tragedy of Kerr's injury could now open the door for Heyman, after the United captain was not selected for the World Cup, despite putting her hand up in the lead-up to the tournament.

Gustavsson did opt to take another experienced forward to the World Cup in 32-year-old Kyah Simon, though.

It was a controversial selection at the time when Simon had not played since October 2022 after tearing her ACL, and even after Kerr missed the opening four games of the tournament due to a calf issue, Simon didn't take the field once.

Gustavsson's decision was criticised before, during, and after the World Cup, and with the Olympics to possibly be his last hurrah at the helm of the Matildas with a coaching move on the horizon, the Swede could opt to go with a more reliable option like Heyman for Paris.

While she is a veteran striker at 35 years old, Heyman remains in form in the A-League Women - tied third on the season's top goal-scorers' list - she's playing big minutes, and offers experience wearing the green and gold with 61 caps, including at the Olympics in 2016.

Heyman is also eyeing her record-making 100th A-League goal when Canberra take on Adelaide this weekend.

"She's a quality player. There's no players in our team that are quicker than her, so she's definitely still able to compete at this level," Popovich said.

Canberra are desperate to get back in the winner's circle to remain in the title race, making this weekend a crucial match.

United did suffer a setback with vice-captain Emma Ilijoski out for up to four weeks with an ankle ligament issue, but the team is confident they have the depth to cover her.

"It's hard to lose players and having Emma out the last two games hasn't been ideal, but we have players ready to step up," US recruit Sarah Clark said.

Canberra United v Adelaide United, Saturday 5pm at Leichhardt Oval