Meaghan Sargeant, 25, and Elise Hughes, 18, have both suffered tears to their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a Women’s Super League clash against Liverpool Women.

The Bristol City pair both had to leave the pitch during the first half of the game where their Merseyside rivals defeated them 1-0.

Meaghan Sargeant previously represented Notts County and Birmingham City before joining Bristol City in the summer of 2019. The defender has since made nine appearances for the club.

Bristol City have confirmed that Sargeant will miss the remainder of the season and will undergo surgery to repair her ACL.

Elise Hughes had joined the Robins on loan at the start of the year from Everton, the talented youngster managed to make three appearances for the side.

After receiving her first cap for Wales at the age of 16, Hughes has progressed to making 11 appearances for her country. The striker will miss out on the European Championship qualifiers in April.

Everton have not commented on the expected timeframe that Hughes will be out of action for.

The dreaded ACL injury is becoming far too common in women's football. Research by Fifa has suggested that female footballers are between two to six times more likely to suffer a tear in the ACL due to physiological differences.

One of the main physiological differences is that females generally have wider hips, which increases the leg's angle into the knee. If landing straight-legged with great speed as well as power, your knee would create an increased valgus angle which pressurises the ACL.

Bristol City are currently in the relegation spot, despite being level on points with Liverpool, the Robins find themselves at the bottom of the table due to an inferior goal difference of -29.