Bright has not played a competitive game since March (Picture: Getty)
Millie Bright will be fit to face Haiti when England get their World Cup campaign underway on Saturday.
Bright, captaining the Lionesses in Australia and New Zealand in the absence of Leah Williamson, has not played a competitive game since March having undergone surgery on a knee injury suffered playing for Chelsea.
The centre-half got some valuable minutes under her belt in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Canada leading into the tournament with England boss Sarina Wiegman confident she is ready to start.
‘Absolutely, yes. We’re happy,’ Weigman told a press conference on Friday. ‘This was the plan. The plan worked and Millie is ready to play.’
Bright will wear the captain’s armband with Arsenal defender Williamson recovering from an ACL injury, having led the side to European Championship glory last summer.
‘Things have stayed the same, I’d like to say my teammates and Sarina would say that with or without the armband my mentality has stayed the same,’ Bright said.
‘Yes, there’s extra responsibilities but I feel like we’ve got a very united group. Every day people show up with the mentality to win and do better.’
The captain was sat alongside England boss Wiegman (Picture: Getty)
On her recovery, she added: ‘Personally, I went day-by-day to start with [in my recovery]. I think it’s important to be in the moment and present, and not look too far ahead.
‘I think by doing that I kind of removed all the pressure of being fit, so day-by-day my head was in that place that day.
‘But I’m always confident that I do absolutely everything that I can for the team, and to put myself in the best position, so I knew I’d tick all the boxes in terms of my recovery.’
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Co-hosts Australia got their campaign off to a winning start against Ireland on Thursday, without Sam Kerr who will miss the opening two group matches with a calf injury.
In a message to her Chelsea teammate, Bright said: ‘I’m really sad for her and I wish her the best in her recovery.
#Hopefully we’ll get to see her back on the pitch soon.’
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The Chelsea defender will skipper the side in Australia and New Zealand this summer.
