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If Sam Kerr is deemed fit enough to make it through a full match, she will start the Matildas' Women's World Cup quarterfinal against France, according to coach Tony Gustavsson.
- Sam Kerr came on for her first minutes of the World Cup late in the Matildas' last game
- She missed all three group matches with a calf injury
- Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said whether she starts or comes off the bench, it will not disrupt the team
Gustavsson was unequivocal when asked about the role Australia's captain would play in Saturday's clash with the world number five.
Kerr came on for her first minutes of the tournament in the 80th minute of the round-of-16 clash with Denmark, with a starting front four of Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Emily van Egmond and Hayley Raso thriving in her absence.
But Gustavsson dismissed the suggestion dropping someone for Kerr, if she is fit to start after returning from her calf injury, could disrupt that dynamic.
"They've been amazing teammates supporting each other. There's been no complaints whatsoever in terms of if you start or come off the bench — they know their role and they play their role," Gustavsson said.
"And I definitely would never, ever see Sam as a disturbance to the team.
"I want to be very clear in here now to say if Sam is fit to play 90 minutes, she is starting. There's not even a question and the team knows it.
"We're talking about Sam Kerr here.
"Whether she is ready to play 90 minutes plus extra time, that's to be decided tonight. But there is no question whatsoever that if she is, she is starting."
Australia have consistently played mind games over the striker's minutes, and could well use Kerr from the bench again.
But France coach Hervé Renard and veteran striker Eugénie Le Sommer said they would not be hyper focused on any one player.
"She can score lots of goals and she can make the difference but I never focus on one particular player," Le Sommer said.
France know what it feels like to wilt under the pressure of a home Women's World Cup, losing in the quarterfinals in 2019, and have tried to project that onto the Matildas.
"We're hoping to put Australia through exactly what France went through when they were the host country," Renard said this week.
Defender Ellie Carpenter said Australia would embrace the pressure and urged the Brisbane crowd to bring the noise.
"I love the pressure and I think we love the pressure. We turn that into 'Look around — all these people in this stadium are cheering for us'," she told reporters.
"We don't take it on as pressure. We take it as such a privilege being able to play at home in front of 50,000, 70,000, 30,000-odd people watching us, cheering us on and that only helps us.
"That's our 12th player on the field and I cannot stress enough honestly throughout the game when you're going through a tough period and we don't have the ball for a bit and the crowd gets in; it really, really helps us.
"It's no pressure at all. It's honestly a privilege and I wouldn't want to be doing anything than playing that game tomorrow. This is why we play football. It's for these games."
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