England manager Phil Neville has confirmed that Manchester City and Lionesses captain Steph Houghton is a doubt for the World Cup quarter-final clash against Norway on Thursday due to injury.
Houghton opened the scoring during England's 3-0 victory over Cameroon in Valenciennes on Sunday but was caught on the ankle by a late tackle from Alexandra Engolo in the closing stages.
The City captain subsequently missed her media duties after the game and Neville confirmed in his post-match press conference that he is worried about her fitness ahead of the clash against Norway.
Now, two days before England's quarter-final showdown in Le Havre, the former Manchester United defender again admitted that Houghton could miss the game through injury and confirmed she was not involved in training on Tuesday.
"Steph is a doubt. She was in a lot of pain after the game. She didn't do the press conference. It was a bad tackle, and she won't be training today," he told FIFA .
Neville slammed Cameroon's behaviour after a controversial clash in Valenciennes, where England's opponents reacted angrily to VAR decisions that went in England's favour - with the African side's coach Alain Djeumfa describing the game as a 'miscarriage of justice'.
A lot has been said in the aftermath of an ill-tempted game in Northern France, with the Telegraph reporting today that referee Qin Liang twice overruled VAR late on to prevent the Cameroon squad from walking off the field.
The Chinese official was concerned that awarding a late penalty after a late tackle on Fran Kirby and sending Engolo off for her challenge on Houghton would have increased the anger of the Cameroon side, which in turn may have led to the match not being completed.
It is also claimed that FIFA backs the decisions that were made to appease Cameroon but that will be of no comfort to Neville's England, who now look set to be without their influential captain for a challenging game against Norway.
