England captain Leah Williamson WILL be making the trip to Australia to watch the Lionesses despite injury having wrecked her World Cup hopes.
Williamson, who led England to glory at last summer's Euros, has been out of action since April, when she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] in Arsenal's Women's Super League defeat to Manchester United. The 26-year-old is one of a host of Lionesses who won't feature this summer due to injury, with forward Beth Mead and midfielder Fran Kirby also absent from Sarina Wiegman's squad.
England's injury crisis, coupled with some subpar recent performances, have raised questions as to whether the Lionesses have what it takes to win the World Cup for the first time ever.
However, Williamson believes her teammates are still more than capable of going all the way at the tournament.
"I’m a believer so I’ll hold onto that," the defender told Sky Sports News. "The girls have got as good a chance as anyone. I can’t wait to watch them and I’m so proud of them already. I’ll be out there with my brother so it’s a nice opportunity to soak it up and do it on the other side of the fence for a little bit."
Williamson, speaking at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday, also offered an update on her injury recovery.
"[Recovery] is going well. Really well actually," she said. "It’s an annoying injury because it's so slow but I’m doing really well."
The Lionesses travelled out to Australia last week and are currently being put through their paces at a pre-tournament training camp on the Sunshine Coast. Wiegman's side will face Canada in a behind-closed-doors friendly on July 14 before getting their World Cup campaign underway against Haiti in Brisbane on July 22.
Chelsea defender Millie Bright is set to captain England in Williamson's absence, although the 29-year-old hasn't featured for club or country since March when she picked up her own knee injury.
Reflecting on being asked to lead her country at a major tournament, Bright said: "Straight away I was just in shock that [Williamson] had suffered such a severe injury.
"I don't think the captaincy crossed my mind at all, hand on heart. Then I got my injury so my head was just fully on my rehab and trying to make the selection. [The captaincy] was probably the last thing I thought of.
"I've always been a big believer that you cannot put captains under the same umbrella - everyone has their different qualities and leads in a different way."
