Trudi Carter recovering well – Menzies

Senior women's football coach Hue Menzies said injured midfielder Trudi Carter is ahead of schedule in her recovery and should be back in training by mid-March.

The AS Roma and Jamaica midfield maestro, Carter, has been struggling with a knee injury from the final round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers and could only be featured in the group stage of that tournament.

However, the 23-yea-old's sublime performance through qualification caught the eye of Italian club Roma, who offered her a contract. But weeks after joining the Rome club, Carter went down in October with knee trouble and has been out since.

But the playmaker who is crucial to coach Menzies' plans going into the World Cup, is nearing recovery, and the coach expects to have her in camp in April.

"Trudi is rehabilitating. She should be back playing probably by mid-March back in her own squad (club), and she should be back for the April camp. Right now, she is rehabilitating every day. I got a report from Roma, and she is doing well. In fact, she is a little bit ahead because she has a good body type. She's running fit, but we want to manage her whole schedule, because it's not just about playing to the end of the (Italian) season, there's also the World Cup," he said.

MENTAL RECOVERY

Menzies admitted that some players take a while to recover mentally from a long-term injury, but he is confident that Carter will be ready mentally and physically for their historic sojourn to the World Cup.

"Mentally, she has to believe, but she's got the body type, small and skinny, easy-healing body type, so it's not a problem. As soon as she sees the ball, she be ready, that's how she is. She used to train with the Orlando Pride, and she played with my guys, so I trained with her, played with her, and it's her dream to play the World Cup. So she'll be back then, unless there is something we haven't seen from the injury," he said.