FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Women’s International - Arnold Clark Cup - England v Belgium - Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, Britain - February 22, 2023 England's Millie Bright celebrates after winning the Arnold Clark Cup Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/File Photo
BURTON UPON TRENT, England (Reuters) - England captain Millie Bright is not quite ready to return to action after being out with a knee injury since March, but the centre back sees a silver lining in her forced layoff having had her first proper break in years.
"I can't remember the last time I had longer than two weeks off. It's been a fair few years now," Bright told reporters on Tuesday. "Not the injury, but otherwise it has been a blessing in disguise that I've been able to have a clean slate.
"I've played through many injuries but with this one, I couldn't quite get there."
The World Cup-bound Lionesses trained at St George's Park on Tuesday and then met with media ahead of their tune-up game on Saturday against Portugal at Milton Keynes, a farewell to England fans before they travel Down Under for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
The 29-year-old Bright has not played since Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final win over Olympique Lyonnais in March, undergoing surgery to clean out a bony cartilage lesion from her knee.
"I think Saturday will be a little bit too soon," Bright said on the prospects of playing against Portugal. "I'm not back with the girls and I don't want to rush that.
"Obviously, we have a lot of time until the first game (England begin their World Cup campaign against Haiti on July 22). I'm gutted not to make that one but at the same time, I'm exactly where I want to be."
The months leading up to World Cup kickoff have been riddled with serious player injuries and England have been among the hardest hit with captain Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby all recovering from serious knee injuries.
The squad was dealt another scare on Tuesday when Manchester City defender Alex Greenwood went down in a heap - and with a shriek - after a hard tackle, with dozens of members of the media looking on.
"I'll be OK," said Greenwood, who had her shin wrapped in ice after limping off the pitch.
"It's sore, but it's football. It was a tackle, part of the game."
Bright, who was promoted to skipper in Williamson's absence, said her knee is feeling "really good," and noted that she had been present at the England camps since her injury, just not on the pitch with her team mates.
"I've just been training individually, ticking the boxes to prepare me for when I can return to the team," she said.
Bright called the amount of minutes she had played prior to her injury "ridiculous".
"I feel physically and mentally fresher than I've ever felt. Just based on the amount I've played it's been a blessing that I'm recovering," she said. "I've been putting in the work and I'll be doing that until the tournament, so I have no concerns at all."
England head to the World Cup as the reigning European champions and ranked fourth in the world. Until a 2-0 loss to Australia on April 11, the Lionesses had gone 30 games unbeaten.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis)
