England star Fran Kirby has revealed she is finally free from pain after an injury-hit club season.
Kirby has struggled for full fitness during the campaign with Chelsea but she is now ready to propel England to World Cup glory, with the Lionesses preparing to face Argentina in their second group game in Le Havre on Friday.
The 25-year-old had to withdraw from pre-tournament warm-up games against Canada and Spain to be sure she was fit for France, and the forward’s caution paid off as she completed 82 minutes of England’s 2-1 win over Scotland in their opening game in Nice last Sunday.
She took a knock to her knee in that game and was moving gingerly this morning, but insisted she would have no problem recovering for Friday.
Kirby said: “It’s just the way my body is going at the moment.
“I’m in a good place now, it’s nice for me to be able to play pain free and not have any niggles.
“I got a kick in the first half [against Scotland] but that just a bit of bruising. “For the first half of this season I was struggling with a hamstring problem. That was difficult and I wasn’t able to play as well as I could.
“It got to the stage where it wasn’t good for me or the team, as I couldn’t give 100 per cent. Then I had a knee problem which was frustrating in the latter stages of the season. Being fresh and ready to go in this World Cup is really nice for me.
“Everyone’s fitness will build up. We’ve been training for a few weeks. People are coming off the back of a long season and everyone is going to build game-by-game momentum.”
Argentina sprung a surprise by drawing 0-0 with Japan in their opener and Kirby added: “They’re going to use that emotion and drive in our game.”
