Arsenal take on Leicester on Friday at Meadow Park, with Arsenal trying to keep their Top 3 hopes alive and Leicester trying to confirm another season in the top division.
Arsenal come into this game off the back of a cruel defeat to Wolfsburg in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. Seeing a draw through to extra-time, they were unfortunate to concede a goal in the last few minutes.
Not only did Arsenal have to mourn the loss of the game, but it was announced on Thursday morning that Laura Wienroither, who went down injured during the game, was the fourth player this season to suffer an ACL injury.
Jonas has voiced his opinion on the tight playing schedule that him and his team have to work to, and whether or not that has an impact on the teams epidemic of injuries this season. Today he spoke about how the club are looking ahead to figure out the reasoning behind these injuries, and also looking at the poor scheduling in the summer.
Jonas firstly explained his and his teams distraught at losing another player to injury.
"Of course it is a tragedy for the player and for us as a team so we're very disappointed and sad with the news. It doesn't change the way that we were looking at the situation, we just need to continue to do that and as always looking to find things to improve for the future but also to give the best possible medical help to Laura so she can return to play as safe and as quickly as possible."
It was also mentioned that not only is an ACL injury a physical burden, but the lack of football and being able to play is also a massive mental burden to most players.
"Most important is that players feel supported when they are at Arsenal and that we give them full medical and mental support at times like this. It's obviously tough but I think a lot of the time with long term injuries it's about continuing giving that support across the whole period of time not only the first days."
Laura Wienroither is now the fourth Arsenal player this season to suffer an ACL injury, following Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, and most recently, Leah Williamson. Jonas explained what the club are exploring to figure out what is causing so many injuries.
"Like I said, that's what we need to look into and I'm afraid that there is not just one singular answer on that, it's a multi-faceted injury and we need to look at the complete picture to see what factors we can control, what can we learn and what can we do better. Of course we need to look at that internally and hopefully we will be better in the future."
However, it is not just Arsenal who are struggling with ACL's, but women's football as a whole. It is about everyone working together, including authorities, to find an answer and a solution to how this issue can be resolved.
"I think some parts of it is of course internal and things that we can control and there are things that we need external cooperation with - so for example the playing schedule or the cooperation between clubs and national teams or how and when the competitions are played and how the international match calendar is set.
That requires governing bodies and football associations and national teams working together. So there are bits that I think clubs can solve themselves internally, but there are also a lot of things that require the whole world of football to cooperate so we need to do both."
Following a cruel defeat only a few days ago, coming into a game as crucial as every league game for Arsenal now, the team need to re-build themselves and come back stronger on Friday night.
"I think that's sport and football. You have to look forward. You're not entitled to anything just because you done something yesterday. It's important for us today and tomorrow against Leicester as that's where we need to put 100% of our energy and focus."
With the Gunners currently sat in fourth place and the Champions League qualifiers being top 3, it is a strong talking point right now on whether the squad can push through the busy timetable and injury struck team and gain a spot in the top 3.
"I don't spend much time on [thinking about] that because I don't know how that contributes to anything better for us. For us, we have five games left in the league. We need to stay focused on one game at a time and we need to prepare 100% for every game. We need to play each one of these games 100% and that's what we're focusing on. After we have done that then we have done everything we can and that's all we can ask of ourselves."
If Arsenal do finish in the top 4 of the WSL, the Champions League qualifying round falls only 16 days after the final of the Women's World Cup in Australia.
"That shows how bad the calendar is. We want to try to finish as high as possible in the table. We want to try to go into the Champions League and we need to do whatever necessary to get there.
I think there are also qualifying rounds that happen during the World Cup. It really highlights the issues with the calendar, where really important stakeholders like UEFA and FIFA can't schedule tournaments better to allow players time off.
It is very evident from this summer that this World cup should have been played earlier. It is evident. That would have meant the players could finish the season, have some time off, prepare for the World Cup without so much time off they lose their fitness, then play the World Cup, then there is a gap so they have time off again and then we start the Champions League qualifiers and the league openers. But they didn't get it right. Hopefully in the future they can do better."
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Injury Updates
Jonas provided an update on Caitlin Foord, explaining that she is not prepared to return for tomorrows game, however Stina Blackstenius will be involved in the squad.
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Match Information
Arsenal face Leicester on Friday 4th May at Meadow Park, with a kick-off time of 19:30.