Millie Bright reflects on 'brutal' rehab in months leading up to Women's World Cup

Despite not playing a single minute of competitive football in the four months leading up to the 2023 Women's World Cup, interim Lionesses captain Millie Bright has played her way back to fitness after a knee injury to a mixture of criticsm and praise.

Going into the World Cup, England were at risk of being without both skipper Leah Williamson and Bright as deputy. The latter had been out of action since suffering a knee injury during Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Lyon in the Champions League in March.

After remaining sidelined for England’s home send-off game against Portugal last month, Bright was the subject of much speculation over whether she would be fit enough to lead the side out against Haiti when England opened their World Cup account.

However, she went from not playing a single minute in the build-up to playing every minute of all three Group D games, amassing a full 270 minutes.

"The running, the running was brutal," Bright said, reflecting on her race to be fit enough to the opening game of the tournament.

"I think there was a lot of hype around it which I tried to keep quiet, just getting my head down and getting what I needed to get done," the 29-year-old added.

"I knew that I'd put myself in a position where I could compete and play 90-minute games in back-to-back games. I think that, one, that's my mentality and character, but my rehab was brutal and I was put through my paces to make sure that I could withstand it.

"It's part and parcel of the game. I feel great out on the pitch, and I'll rest, recover and repeat."

Bright simply had to play her way back in. In the four months build up to the summer she did not touch a pitch, with the exception of an unregistered number of minutes during the Lionesses behind closed doors game against Canada the week before their opening game. Playing such an integral role in the back line and as captain, had to push to get back in time whilst not compromising her recovery.

"When you have a short space of time it's just about making sure you get up to speed, and make sure your body is in a position that you can actually return to training, and return to games, so for me it was about getting that," she explained.

England were one of only three teams to win all matches during the group stage, sealing two 1-0 wins over Haiti and Denmark and later a 6-1 thrashing of China to top Group D.

Bright looked shaky against Haiti, misplacing passes and far from the composed centre-back that played such a pivotal role as the Lioensses won Euro 2022 last summer. By contrast, her maiden performance in this World Cup garnered some criticism across social media and in the press.

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However, the Chelsea defender says that she did not register any of the criticism, coming off social media ahead of the tournament for that exact reason - to keep her focus on the task at hand rather than letting the reaction get into her head in a negative way.

"We value our bubble and what's inside our bubble; nothing gets in and nothing gets out. It's football, everyone's going to have an opinion, but the only ones that are going to matter are the ones that are within our team, our squad, staff and players," she said.

"We have controllables which are our training, our intensity, our mindset when we step out on that pitch. We're not perfect humans, we all make mistakes, it's going to happen. I'm not aware of the criticism,” she added, reflecting on the ability for useful criticism to be a key tool in growing.

"You can either let it get you down, disrupt you and damage you or you can take little bits from it and think 'maybe I can use that little bit'. In anything that you do it's about growing and learning from the people around you. For me you need it and it's part of the game."

Whilst the skipper was subject to criticism in her early performances in the tournament, the narrative flipped after her invaluable and solid effort against China, the opening two goals coming directly from Bright's eagerness and ability to win the ball back in tackles.

Touching on captaining the side, the first time she has done so at a major tournament, Bright has held her calmness and belief as the reasons for her success as a leader, crediting her mentor, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes for being integral to her development.

Opting to focus on what she can control, Bright takes three aims into every game and messages those to her partner Levi. And while she may not read into the criticism that comes from the outside, this is one practice that she does not fault on despite the reality of the response.

"I always have three aims, no matter what I stick to them. It could be as simple as: dominate defensive duels, distribution, composure. It really depends on the opponent I'm coming up against," she said.

"I actually send them to Levi, my partner, he's a very level-headed person, he doesn't sugar-coat anything which in the moment I may not like but it's for the greater good, so I appreciate it. I think you need that; I think sometimes it's easy for loved ones to be like 'You had a great game!' and I'm like 'Mum, I was terrible there’. I just stick to three and I send them every single game.”

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Former Italy international Arianna Criscione, Dulwich Hamlet's Brittany Saylor and Football for Future founder Elliot Arthur-Worsop join Katie Cross to have football's climate conversation about the Women's World Cup and tournament football's carbon footprint. Pledgeball's Heather Ashworth also gives an update on the Pledgeball's new Women's World Cup initiative.

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