Sam Kerr could potentially become ‘a more balanced athlete’ when she is fully recovered from her knee injury as fans looked for a silver lining following the Matildas star’s shattering news.

Kerr, 30, is in severe doubt for the Paris Olympics after suffering an antertior cruciate ligament rupture while playing for English club Chelsea overnight.

The knee injury typically requires eight to twelve months of recovery time. With the Paris Games just six month and 16 days away, Matildas fans are increasingly fearful they won’t see their star striker feature. 

‘A lot of the time, particularly with ACL injuries, one of the risk factors is that you’ve got too high a quad-to-hamstring ratio,’ she said. ‘That means your quads are too strong, and your hamstrings aren’t strong enough. 

There is a silver lining for Matildas and Chelsea fans after Sam Kerr’s knee injury

An expert claims Kerr could return ‘a more balanced athlete’ after her injury

‘A lot of the time when we’re doing ACL rehab in the early stages, it’s really focused on hamstring rehab, especially if you’ve had a hamstring graft. We actually won’t let the athlete progress past a certain point if their ratio isn’t good enough. So we’re looking at the strength of that injured leg compared to the strength of the other side, but also the ratio of front to back, as well.

‘Whereas if you come in with that [imbalance] already, we’re not going to pull you out of training until you fix that deficit. We often do yearly screening, and if you find that quad-to-hamstring ratio that’s greater than, let’s call it a 10 to 15 per cent difference, then you really wanna work on that in training with them to reduce their future risk of an ACL injury – but you’re still training and playing during that time.

‘Whereas once you’ve got the injury, if you’ve got that deficit, your sole focus is on fixing that deficit. It doesn’t happen quickly but, it’s because it’s the focus, at the end the athlete is going to be a more balanced athlete because of it.’

Ellie Carpenter, Kerr’s Matildas teammate, was also sidelined with a long-term ACL injury and recently admitted that the setback was actually ‘a blessing in disguise’.

‘Honestly, I think it was the best thing that’s happened to me,’ she said in March last year. 

‘I really needed this break. I was very fatigued, I’ve played a lot – a lot – of football in the last year and a half. I was just on the verge of [being] burnt out, really.

‘The injury came, and, obviously, it was disappointing but at the same time, it was the perfect time for me to reset, get stronger, have a rest, have an off-season that I never really have had. I think I really, really needed it and I think I’m better from it.’

Regardless, Monday’s news was described as ‘devastating’ by Matildas manager Tony Gustavsson.

Ellie Carpenter says her ACL injury was ‘a blessing in disguise’ last year

‘Considering how hard Sam has worked over the past six months to return to play, this news is a devastating blow for everyone,’ Gustavsson said.

‘With her ability to lead by example, Sam’s guidance and influence on the team is significant and, as a result, this will be an incredible loss for the national team.’

Fans have also been left devastated by the news that Kerr could potentially be ruled out of the entire Paris Olympics campaign.

‘This is awful and something needs to be done about the amount of women suffering from this injury,’ one fan posted.

‘The sooner they study female ACL injuries the better! Devastating for any athlete.’