Manchester City ‘fear’ that Bunny Shaw suffered a broken foot during the 5-0 win over West Ham at the weekend, according to the Daily Mail.

If the diagnosis is confirmed, it would rule out the Jamaican international from playing in the Sky Blues’ remaining Women’s Super League fixtures this season.

Shaw had scored a brace in the first half against the Irons but she had to be helped off the pitch just before the interval after sustaining the injury.

Chloe Kelly came on at half-time to replace the striker but there were alarm bells when Shaw was subsequently pictured in crutches and wearing a protective boot.

City have tried to play down the seriousness of the injury

Speaking after the victory against West Ham, manager Gareth Taylor insisted that Shaw had only been taken off as a precaution:

“We decided not to take the risk, it was touch and go as to whether she was going to come back on the pitch. We’ll get a bit more of an assessment tomorrow. She’s on crutches, which looks bad, but most of the players end up being offloaded in that situation. We’ll just have to assess it. If it’s more serious than we anticipate, then we’ll deal with it.”

However, if the Mail‘s reporting is accurate, the initial assessment was worse than expected. With there being less than a month to go before the campaign ends, there is next to no chance of Shaw returning to fitness in time if she has broken a bone.

Where does this leave the title race?

Shaw has been integral to City’s title challenge, having scored 21 goals in 18 appearances so far this season. Gareth Taylor’s team are currently sitting top of the WSL table with three games to go, three points ahead of closest rivals Chelsea, and three further ahead of Arsenal.

However, they have played one more game than the reigning champions, with there still being a potential for the title to be decided on goal difference.