England coach Sarina Wiegman said Keiran Walsh could feature in their round of 16 encounter against Nigeria at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 if she passes a late fitness test.
Walsh picked up a knee injury in the first half of the Lionesses’ second group game against Denmark and was forced to sit out of their 6-1 thumping of China on Tuesday.
The world-most expensive female player is fighting her way back to match-fitness and Wiegman has hinted at her availability for Monday’s match against the Super Falcons.
“She’s doing well. She started her rehab straight after we knew what was going on,” Wiegman said.
“She has been on the pitch training today so now we will wait to see how she recovers. If she does well then she will be available for tomorrow.”
The Barcelona star has 128 minutes of football in two games and she was spotted in crutches while Sydney Stadium on July 28.
On the severity of Walsh’s injury, the Dutch added: “That moment was very hard and not nice to see. But after the assessment, we really knew what was going on.
“We didn’t want to take any assumptions – just wait until a proper assessment had been done. That’s what we did and then we got the green light to get her rehab started.”
England have only faced Nigeria once in the FIFA Women’s World Cup and they ran out 3-2 winners in the 1995 edition.
YOU CAN WATCH THE FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP GAME BETWEEN ENGLAND AND NIGERIA LIVE ON AFROSPORT, CHANNEL 730 ON FREE TV OR STREAM ON VIDIVU TV.
