Lionesses star Beth England on injury that nearly ended her career as Tottenham striker reveals she played through pain barrier at Women's World Cup

England was a part of the squad that finished as runners-up in the World Cup Down Under and the 29-year-old reveals she played through an injury that could have ended her career last summer. The Lioness had surgery weeks after collecting her second-place medal having torn her hip labrum.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, she said: "At the time, I was like, 'I don’t want to get a scan', because you fear the worst. If something does show up, you don’t want it to stop you from being able to compete in the competition I came back from Australia and had multiple scans which showed that I had quite a nasty hip labrum tear and tears in the cartilage at the back. It could have been career- ending had it ruptured any more than what it already had."

It has been a long road to recovery for the Spurs skipper and after returning to full fitness she will now lead her side out at Wembley for the FA Cup final. The veteran forward has won a collection of silverware during her career but has the chance to make history with her current club and end their drought.

England and Spurs take on Manchester United in the coveted FA Cup final and regardless of the result, it will see a team other than Chelsea or Manchester City crowned champions for the first time since 2016. Neither side has ever won the competition and it's anyone's game at the home of football.