'No need to panic': Mel Reay's upbeat Sunderland message and team news update ahead of Southampton trip

Sunderland's game with London City Lionesses was paused for an extended period last Sunday when Herron was injured in a collision with a team-mate when clearing a ball off the line, an incident that required the midfielder to be stretchered from the field.

However, head coach Mel Reay says Herron has been cleared to feature and is eager to play through any pain barrier.

"She's got a fracture in her nose, but she was cleared straight away by the doctor so she'll be in the squad for the weekend," Reay said.

"She has trained this week, she's obviously a little bit sore but we've got a protective mask that she has the option to use if she does feel she needs it.

"Neve is hard as nails really, she's desperate to keep playing especially because she missed a lot of football early in the season due to her broken foot.

"We've got another training session today and we'll see how she goes of course but at the moment we're happy that she's available."

Sunderland's squad is expected to be unchanged for the game, with Keira Ramshaw still recovering from an ankle injury.

Reay's side currently sit eleventh in the early Championship table but a tough early fixture list is reflected in the fact that they have played four of the current top six, as well as former WSL side Birmingham City and a strong Durham side away from home.

As such, Reay says there is no need to panic and performances mean the mood remains upbeat.”

I didn't really think there was much in the game against London City, they've had a lot of possession but Claudia [Moan] hasn't had a great deal to do.

"We had the best chance of the first half when Grace McCatty has a free header from a corner, which a yard either side of the goalkeeper could change the game.

"They then get a deflected goal and to be honest no goalkeeper in the league is saving that. They're hard to break down, they are well organised and they are certainly going to be right up there at the end of the season.

"So we've got to take the positives I think, performances have been OK and we just need to try and get over the line in the next few weeks against teams in and around us," she added.

"We've had a tough start and there's certainly no need to panic, we've put in some good performances and we've been in a lot of games at different times. We've had a good result against Durham, a great one away at Crystal Palace.

"We've got a run of games now against opponents we think we can go toe-to-toe with. Southampton are a good side, I know Marieanne [Spacey-Cale] well and there's a lot of mutual respect. It's a really good project down there, they've got players who have made a really good start.

"It's going to be a good game for us on a nice big pitch at St Mary's, but I'm more than confident that with the squad we're going down there with, we can go with the attitude to go and get some points."