Norway vs England: Phil Neville reveals Lucy Bronze also suffered from virus ahead of World Cup quarter-final

England have seen their World Cup quarter-final preparations scuppered by a nasty virus, as manager Phil Neville reveals Lucy Bronze has also struggled with illness alongside Millie Bright.

Bronze was forced to pull out of media duties yesterday as she fought off the bug, however she is expected to recover in time for the Norway clash on Thursday.

The right-back trained alongside Steph Houghton on Wednesday, with the captain still trying to shake off the horror challenge suffered in the dying moments of England’s fiery 3-0 victory over Cameroon.

Bright, the centre-back, was the only player missing from training and she remains a serious doubt for the last-eight tie at the Stade Oceane in Le Havre tomorrow night.

Neville could not offer any guarantees on the defensive trio.

“Millie, Steph and Lucy are big players and we hope to get one or two of them through, maybe three,” he told talkSPORT.

“When I got into management, I made a particular stance about not worrying about the uncontrollable.

“We’ve got some fantastic defenders. Leah Williamson, Abbie McManus has been one of my best players. I trust my squad.

“It’s tournament football. When you’re in a hotel constantly for 40 days, you’re going to pick up bugs. You’ve got to deal with it.”

Although circumstance could force Neville’s hand in Le Havre, the England boss has rotated his squad heavily throughout the tournament anyway.

And despite receiving criticism in some quarters for doing so, he argues that using the entire squad is the key to a successful tournament.

“We’ve done big studies on what it takes to win a World Cup and freshness is the key. We’re not training at the moment, I don’t think any team will be,” he added.

“How many times have we seen an England team get to a quarter-final or semi-final and be dead on their feet? That’s something we’ve planned against.

“They’ve got a glint in their eyes that they want to win. This is where all of the training and planning comes to fruition. The talk’s over, go out there and deliver.”

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