Arsenal boss Slegers 'hopes' Kelly is available for derby

Chloe Kelly made 19 appearances for Arsenal between 2015 and 2018

Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers says she "hopes" Chloe Kelly is available for Sunday's north London derby against Tottenham in the Women's Super League.

The England forward has yet to play for the Gunners since joining on loan from Manchester City on transfer deadline day after falling out of favour at Joie Stadium.

The 27-year-old was ineligible to play in back-to-back matches against her parent club in the WSL and Women's League Cup, while she was cup-tied for Sunday's FA Cup win over London City Lionesses.

Kelly, who pushed for a move in January, has not played in the WSL since 15 December, when City were beaten 2-1 by Everton.

"We hope she's available for Sunday and we know what she can do for us," said Slegers.

"I look forward to her first minutes for Arsenal and we will see when that is."

England boss Sarina Wiegman left Kelly out of the Lionesses' squad for the Women's Nations League matches against Portugal and Spain later this month.

Having made just one WSL start for City this season, Kelly was concerned about her place in the squad for Euro 2025 in July.

Before her move to Arsenal, Kelly said on social media that she wanted "to be in a position to give it my best shot to represent my country" at the Euros.

Asked if she was confident that Kelly could work her way back into the England squad, Slegers said: "That's something I can't control. We want the best for Chloe. I have spoken to Chloe and she accepts the situations as they are, she is just really happy she is with us at the moment.

"She wants to take every opportunity wherever it is - in a match or training environment to push herself and find the next level and get her rhythm and play minutes again."

If Kelly does feature against Tottenham at Emirates Stadium, it will be her second debut for the club after having come through Arsenal's academy.

"She comes from the club so we're happy she is back and what she brings is her qualities as an attacking player, but also her willingness to defend and be aggressive and work hard," Slegers added.

Arsenal are third in the WSL, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea, while Tottenham are sixth.