Wiegman says Walsh could be available for England's last 16 clash vs Nigeria

England manager Sarina Wiegman has warned her players they cannot afford to be complacent against underdogs Nigeria as they bid to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

The Lionesses will be heavy favourites to win Monday's last 16 clash, with their opponents ranked 36 places below them in FIFA’s standings.

But with Germany, Brazil and Canada having already suffered shock group-stage exits at the hands of lower-ranked teams, Wiegman insisted England are expecting a tough encounter.

‘What we’ve seen in this tournament is that nothing is easy,’ Wiegman said on Sunday.

‘The growth of the game has been shown in this tournament, we haven't had any easy game at all. We don’t expect an easy game tomorrow, it’s going to be very close and we’ll have to be at our best.

‘I think everyone who plays against us wants to beat us, that’s nothing new.

‘The game is developing really quickly. That’s what you see, the games are very competitive. No one can be complacent. That’s inappropriate to be complacent because it’s very tight.

‘I think Nigeria has done really well this tournament, they were in a very hard group. They did very well in that group. They are a very athletic team, quick, transitional. We are aware of their strengths but we will try and exploit their weaknesses.’

England receive Keira Walsh injury boost

Wiegman will make a late call on whether to start Keira Walsh after the midfielder returned to full training on Sunday.

There were fears Walsh’s tournament was over after she was carried off on a stretcher during their 1-0 win against Denmark with a knee injury. She missed the 6-1 victory over China but is back in contention for Monday's game.

‘She’s doing well, she has been training’ Wiegman said. ‘We’ll wait to see how she recovers from the training session and if she does well then she’s available for tomorrow.

‘Of course that moment in the game against Denmark, that was a very hard moment and not good and not nice to see.

‘The first moment was of course, as we all could see, that moment of her knee sliding, that was not a good moment and everyone was in shock but also because everything is going on about injuries all the time.

‘After the assessment, we really knew what was going on, we also said don’t take any assumptions, just wait until a proper assessment has been done. That’s what we did. Then we got the green light to get her rehab started.’

Wiegman was also asked on what the issue was and said: 'I can only say that it wasn't a ligament injury and that we could start recovery, and that's all I can say about it.

In her absence, England opted to play three at the back against China, deviating their formation from the way they set up against Denmark and Haiti.

When questioned whether the midfielder's return could see her revert to a back four, Wiegman remained tight-lipped.

'We have two options now, the way we played [at the start of the tournament] and what we did against China.

'We have taken that into consideration and you'll see tomorrow what we do.'