Sam Kerr says break was needed as Matildas welcome back captain for series against Canada

Matildas captain Sam Kerr is intent on being ‘laser-focused’ in her preparations for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Matildas captain Sam Kerr has defended the controversial decision to rest most of Australia’s best players from recent matches against Spain and Portugal, saying “time off” was needed.

Kerr returns to national duty on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium in the first of a two-match series between the Matildas and Canada.

The game will be the Matildas’ first match since their forgettable June European camp, from which the majority of Australia’s stars, including Chelsea striker Kerr, were given a leave pass.

While a 1-1 draw with Portugal was perhaps acceptable, an embarrassing 7-0 loss to Spain was intolerable, with Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson blasted for allowing his stars to rest despite his players needing as many games as possible together ahead of next year’s FIFA Womens World Cup.

However, Kerr claimed she and several of her Matildas teammates needed a rest, despite also mentioning the need to spend “as much time” as possible together to get “everyone on the same page”.

Matildas captain Sam Kerr (right) and vice-captain Steph Catley are ready for a tough challenge against Canada. Picture: Matthew Poon

“Everyone was on different schedules, and we hadn’t had a break for two years, so there were a lot of us that needed some time off,” Kerr told the Matildas website.

“Now everyone’s feeling refreshed, there’s a really clear path to the World Cup and where we want to be in 12 months.

"It’s just about getting really prepared and being laser-focused. It (the Australia-New Zealand co-hosted World Cup) is going to come around so quickly.

“We’re making the most of every session, and spending as much time as we can together because team cohesion is really important – it’s about getting everyone on the same page.”

However, the Matildas will still be without the either injured or “unavailable” Ellie Carpenter, Hayley Raso, Steph Catley, Tameka Yallop, Chloe Logarzo, Caitlin Foord, Kyah Simon and Mackenzie Arnold on Saturday afternoon.

Gustavsson said it would lead to a “different type of game and different type of approach than we thought coming into this camp”.

“But we love challenges,” the Swedish mentor said.

“If we adapt to change, we can look at it as a chance for us to see the investment of the depth in the roster that we’ve been doing for a year and a half.

“This is a great opportunity to test that depth of the roster.”

Canada coach Bev Priestman, whose side won Olympic Games gold last year, said while Kerr was an obvious threat, there were other Matildas she was also wary of.

“Scouting them coming into this, they’ve got major threats,” Priestman said.

“You can’t hide from Sam Kerr, but it’s not just about Sam Kerr. There are four or five top players who are playing in top leagues and clubs, so it’ll be a really tough game for us defensively.”:

Matildas v Canada

Suncorp Stadium

Saturday, 2:45pm (AEST)

TV: Live on Network 10

Originally published as Sam Kerr says break was needed as Matildas welcome back captain for series against Canada