A knee injury sustained in Arsenal’s Premier League Cup quarter-final victory over Bristol City last week has ruled Scott out of not only Sunday’s fixture but also England’s team for next Thursday’s 2007 Women’s World Cup qualifier against Holland.

“I’m gutted,” said Scott. “This is the first injury I’ve ever had and it’s come at a terrible time. I was really looking forward to playing at Birmingham on Sunday, and of course I wanted to be involved in the England game next week.

“It’s really disappointing, but my injury’s not going to stop me from at least supporting the girls – I’ll be travelling with the Arsenal team to Birmingham on Sunday and I’ll also be going to Holland to watch the World Cup group game.”

Scott looks certain to be out of action until the New Year and, depending on the opinion of a specialist she is due to see on Saturday, the 21-year-old defender may have to undergo surgery to repair ligament damage.

The injury will be a blow to club and country as well as to the player herself, Scott having established herself as an England regular since making her senior debut last year while with Birmingham.

She returned to Arsenal, the club where she had started her career, when Blues ran into financial difficulties during the close season. But she retains strong links with the midland club and is hoping they will pull out of their current on-field problems.

Though they won at Chelsea in their last League game they are still anchored firmly to the bottom of the table with just five points from eight matches. And they will not be expected to add to that tally when champions Arsenal visit on Sunday.

Scott said: “I’ll obviously be hoping we get the points on Sunday, but if that happens then I still think Birmingham are good enough to move up the table – they’ve still got good players at the club and they’ve also got games in hand on the teams above them.”

Fourth in the table Arsenal have also got games in hand on the clubs above them – and with Everton on League Cup duty at Sunderland on Sunday, the Gunners can cut the gap between themselves and the current leaders to three points.

Charlton Athletic, behind Everton only on goal difference, will need only a draw at Fulham to take over top spot while Doncaster Rovers Belles will stay third if they beat Chelsea at home.