Team GB News

Cheslea goalkeeper Carly Telford has been called up to replace OL Reign's Karen Bardsley.

Bardsley suffered an ankle injury earlier this month after being named in the eighteen player Olympic squad. Bardsley had already been out of the game for nearly two years after becoming injured in the 2019 World Cup and had only recently returned to the field.

Team GB head coach Hege Riise announced that Telford woul take Bardsley's place skipping over reserve goalkeeper Sandy MacIver. Everton's number one MacIver remains on the reserve list and will still travel to Tokyo with the squad.

The decision to name a goalkeeper player that is not on the reserve list has divided opinion. It is clear that Riise is prioritising experience to build her squad, however this move does allow one to question the thought process Riise took in naming her reserves. The point of a reserve list is to use it as an actor would use an understudy and so Telford's selection paints it somewhat redundant.

Telford has a proven herself time and again both domestically and internationally having made 27 appearances for England. Telford took the number one spot in the World Cup after Bardsley's injury and played two out three games during the 2020 SheBelieves campaign., asserting herself of one of the Lionesses standout players.

Team GB will play their first match of the Olympics against Chile on Wednesday 21st July at 8:30am (BST).