Man City boss Gareth Taylor admits Alex Greenwood's 'nasty' head injury

Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor admitted seeing Alex Greenwood in 'distress' was a scary moment after the defender suffered a 'nasty' head injury in England's defeat by Belgium.

Greenwood collided with an opponent as she went up for a header and was down for 13 minutes as four members of England's medical team and six paramedics attended to her.

The centre back was walking and talking by full-time but has been ruled out of City's clash with Arsenal this weekend.

'She's been back in the environment today with us. It was a nasty blow, first and foremost,' Taylor said.

'There was a lot of concern regarding Alex at the time, at that moment. So we've gone through - and they [England] needed to previously as well - all of the necessary protocols that come with these types of head injuries. So of course she won't be available for the weekend.

'I spoke to her yesterday, and exchanged text messages on the evening of when she did it. Of course it was a bit of a scary moment for her, and an uncomfortable moment for her.

'It's always a concern when you see a player down in distress like that and obviously the medics were taking their time, I think it was quite an extended period of time. No one wants to see that.

'She's a very brave player, Alex, she's very determined, she's so brave in everything she does and the way she plays, and of course she's frustrated, because it means she'll miss the weekend.

'But of course her welfare is the most important thing and we'll make sure we get that right as a club. We've had good communication with England, her handover was really good. so she's now back in our care.'

Taylor added that it was too early to know when Greenwood will be available to return, with City facing a midweek League Cup game with Liverpool before hosting Brighton next weekend.

'She's due to see a specialist next week, so we'll know more when the experts have assessed her.

'It's about understanding and managing that for Alex, that she's supported in the right way. She's very keen to get back into it as soon as she can. Probably, knowing Alex, that'll be ahead of what she probably should do, but we'll make sure that we manage that in the right way.'

Greenwood will be a big miss for City, who are unbeaten this season, but Taylor insisted her absence will provide other players with an opportunity to impress.

'Losing a player like Alex, there's no doubt, and it rocked England the other night, you could see it, as soon as she went off they [England] deteriorated, so yes of course she's a big player for us.

'The strength in us this season is the squad that we have. We have capable players that are knocking on the door continuously every day and nothing changes with that. It's a tight turnaround from the international break in terms of our training opportunities but we're ready and looking forward to the challenge.'