England ‘optimistic’ over Leah Williamson fitness ahead of Euro 2025 semi-final | OneFootball

Esme Morgan says England are “very optimistic” that Leah Williamson will be fit enough to face Italy in the Euro 2025 semi-finals.

Williamson was forced off during England’s quarter-final win over Sweden after rolling her ankle before leaving the stadium on crutches.

After replacing Williamson and forming a reshuffled Lionesses defence during extra-time, Morgan is one of the candidates to replace the England captain in side. However, the 24-year-old revealed her teammate could be fit enough to start against the Italians.

“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,” said Morgan.

“It is the same as every single game – be prepared to play if I’m needed, know the role, just be absolutely ready and 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 quarter-final had a recovery day on Friday before resuming their preparations for Tuesday’s semi-final on Saturday, and Morgan admitted that the squad found it difficult to unwind after the match.

“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.”