England are “optimistic” that captain Leah Williamson will be ready to face Italy in the Euro 2025 semi-final.
Williamson rolled her ankle and was forced off during England’s quarter-final win over Sweden on Thursday and was seen leaving the stadium in crutches.
Defender Esme Morgan filled in for Williamson in England’s reshuffled defence during extra time and would have been the leading candidate to step in against Italy on Tuesday.
But speaking at a news conference on Saturday, Morgan suggested that Williamson’s injury is not as bad as first feared and she could be available to start the semi-final.
“We're very optimistic that Leah will be available,” Morgan said. “She seemed in very high spirits this morning. I want what's best for the team, and that's absolutely having our captain on the pitch for us.
“[My preparation] is the same as every single game, be prepared to play if I'm needed, I'll know the role, and just be absolutely ready to train at a high level over the next few days.
“But we're very optimistic that Leah will be fine.”
The England players who featured in the Euro 2025 quarter-final had a recovery day on Friday before resuming their preparations for Tuesday’s semi-final, with two days of training behind closed doors planned for Saturday and Sunday.
Morgan, who said England’s players wound down after the drama of the penalty shoot-out against Sweden by watching Love Island on the coach home, said everyone was ready to go with “full energy”
“Went to bed quite late, it's just so hard to switch off, especially when it's been such a game of rollercoaster emotions,” Morgan said. “Your heart is just pounding and you keep replaying moments. There was a lot of just laughing about things that happened within the game in the changing room and stuff afterwards.
“Everyone who played significant minutes had a recovery day to be able to just sort of reset, get moving again. The finishers went to train and had a really intense session.
“It's just a case of getting off feet, bringing yourself back down to earth, even mentally, just to have a chilled day to reset after all of the excitement of the night before.
“And then same again today. Just everyone being able to relax, switch off a little bit, ready to then turn our full focus to the Italy game and be ready to go with full energy into that.”
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