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Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson says his team was still waiting for scan results on Sam Kerr's injured calf when the pair fronted the media in the lead-up to Australia's Women's World Cup opener.
- Sam Kerr injured her calf during a training session the day before Australia's opening match
- The star attacker was only confirmed as missing the match just half an hour before the game
- Kerr will miss Australia's next match against Nigeria, but has no return date set yet
Kerr was a shock late scratching before Australia's victory over Ireland at Stadium Australia, despite suffering the injury during training the day before the match.
Kerr and Gustavsson then fronted a press conference together after the injury occurred to promote Australia's match.
"First of all, I hope you and the media understand the position not to say," Gustavsson said after last night's 1-0 victory over Ireland.
"Some people might wonder why we weren't honest in the press conference. We didn't have all the information either. We were waiting for the scans at that moment too.
"A lot of it is tactics and you don't want to give away anything. Sam is a massive part of our game plan and Ireland's game plan. We wanted to protect Sam and the team emotionally not to have to answer all the questions.
"It was a tough 24 hours mentally for the team. I think they handled it magnificently. The way Sam led the team speech in the locker room and today as well, she means a lot for the team, even though she is not on the park."
Questions will now be raised over how long the attacker will be off the pitch.
Football Australia said in a press release that the Chelsea star would miss the Ireland opener and the Nigeria match in Brisbane on July 27, but stopped short of saying Kerr would miss the crucial clash with Canada in Melbourne just four days later.
"We have been very honest and haven't hid anything (only) saying she's going to be out for two games," Gustavsson said post-match.
Gustavsson said he understood that his team, who were informed on Wednesday night of Kerr's unavailability, played scrappily in a frantic opening outing.
"It wasn't the fantastic attacking Australian team that we have seen when we're flying," he said.
"It was a team that knows how to win a game and find a way to win a game and do what's needed in that moment — that's what I'm most impressed with."
Stand-in skipper Steph Catley, who scored the winning penalty against Ireland, insisted the Matildas could rally without Kerr for as long as required.
"It was tough. It was probably one of the most heartbreaking moments of my career, to be fair," Catley said.
"Sam's one of the best players in the world. She's our spiritual leader. She means so much to this team.
"So to have her go down a day before a moment like this was pretty awful, but as a team, it added something to us, it added a little bit of extra fire.
"Everyone looked at it and said, 'Well, I've got to step up now because we don't have Sam'. We spoke about that and we did that really well."
Young gun Mary Fowler played alongside Caitlin Foord in attack in Kerr's absence.
"I obviously feel for Sam, because it's such a big tournament and she means so much to this team and this country," Fowler said.
"But there's just been love from the teammates towards her and from her towards us. So we move forward and we keep going."
Gustavsson hailed how Kerr had handled herself.
"Sam was very clear when she brought the team together and said, 'This is not about me, this is about you'," he said.
"She wanted to be focused on the team and for the players to be able to do that in that devastating moment for her personally, says a lot about her as a captain for this team."
But Gustavsson put the scrappy performance down to the pressure of playing in a tournament opener on home soil.
"We know we can do better in attack," he said.
"I think we showed that in parts of the attack, when we had some good combination play down the right-hand side.
"A couple of times in the beginning of the second half we played faster and had more movements off the ball and played with a little bit more confidence.
"I hope that playing the first game in the World Cup now will tick that box mentally."
AAP/ABC
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