Expectant Fleeting to take a break

Arsenal LFC and Scotland forward Julie Fleeting will miss the rest of the season after discovering that she is to have a baby.

Champions League chance
The 28-year-old, who helped Arsenal to 2007 UEFA Women's Cup victory and is married to Greenock Morton FC goalkeeper Colin Stewart, is set to have her first child in the summer. She intends to return to the game after that, in time for a potential Gunners campaign in the first UEFA Women's Champions League, and they look on course as they lead the FA Women's Premier League with 12 wins from as many games in a bid for a sixth straight title. She has scored more than 100 times for Scotland, only missing out on the UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ UEFA finals in an away goals play-offs defeat by Russia, and also aims to be part of their 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying bid when it begins in the autumn.

Medical advice
"The medical advice was that you can't go on playing a contact sport," said Fleeting, whose side exited this season's UEFA Women's Cup at the quarter-final stage. "I've played up till now only because I was told it was safe to do so. But there's no way I could go on longer. I love playing for Arsenal and for Scotland, and I have every intention of playing again after the baby is born. I have told the people at Arsenal that I want to get back to playing for the club again, and the same goes for Scotland if I'm selected. If I can I would love to go back. That's my intention at the moment, though obviously I don't know what the future holds for me."