England have received a major boost ahead of their last-16 World Cup showdown against Nigeria after Keira Walsh returned to training with the team.
Walsh injured her knee against Denmark in England’s second group game on July 28 and was carried off on a stretcher.
That sparked fears her World Cup was over and she missed the Lionesses’ 6-1 win over China on Tuesday.
Walsh, however, is now back training with the team and took part in a session with them on Sunday. Earlier this week the midfielder has been working on her own in the gym.
It has given hope that the Barcelona star could even feature against Nigeria in England’s last-16 match on Monday, with head coach Sarina Wiegman set to confirm her availability during a pre-match press conference on Sunday morning.
Walsh’s return would be a major boost to England, with the 26-year-old one of their most important players.
In her absence, Wiegman opted to use a 3-4-1-2 formation against China and it will be intriguing to see what she does if Walsh is available.
England excelled in their new formation and defender Lucy Bronze said earlier this week Walsh could slot into it.
“If Keira does come back and play, who is to say how we will play,” she said. “We might keep this formation with her in it.
“We need to be unpredictable, we needed to refresh things, you need that in the knockout rounds.”
