Chelsea buck ban with Kovacic deal
manager, a boost by returning to action by the start of September.
Hudson- Odoi ruptured his Achilles against Burnley in April. At the time there were fears he would be out of action for at least six months.
But the teenager posted a clip of himself on social media doing indoor ball work with both feet on Sunday, accompanied by the message: “Recovery is going well, I hope to soon be back on the pitch, let’s go!”
Meanwhile, Chelsea are set to seal the £ 40m signing of Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic despite being under a twowindow transfer ban.
Kovacic spent last season on loan at Stamford Bridge so, provided the deal is done before his loan expires this Sunday, it will not require another registration.
Meanwhile, departing Derby midfielder Craig Bryson says Lampard can have the same success at Chelsea that he enjoyed as a player.
Bryson, who joined Aberdeen last week, said of his former manager: “I don’t see how he won’t do well at Chelsea. I know people say he has not got any experience but it goes back to being a player – you need to get a chance somewhere.
“He is a down- toearth guy, knows what he is talking about and he has a real presence about him that you notice every time he walks into the room.
“You can’t really argue with him because as a player he has operated at the highest level.”
Goals at either end of the first half from Jill Scott and Ellen White set Phil Neville’s side on their way before the impressive Lucy Bronze’s second- half stunner sealed their spot in Lyon.
Neville made just one change to the side which beat Cameroon on Sunday, Demi Stokes replacing Alex Greenwood at left- back in a like- for- like switch. England have started quickly in the majority of their games so far in France but never more so than Scott opening the scoring inside three minutes in Le Havre.
Bronze, who was superb down the right- hand side, looked to pick out White after a bursting run but the striker completely missed her shot, the ball rolling under her foot.
Fortunately, Scott was following up and she joins Fara Williams as the only England player to have scored in three separate World Cups.
Both White and Nikita Parris went agonisingly close to doubling the lead. Parris cut inside into space and possibly could have passed instead of taking on a shot on her left foot, the resulting effort going wide of the far post. White came closer still when Parris looked to turn provider with a dinked ball over the Norway defence.
But White smashed a firsttime half volley off the far post and could only watch with frustration as the ball bounced to safety.
England did a solid job of stifling the threat of Caroline Graham Hansen but gaps did appear at the back which Martin Sjogren’s side failed to capitalise on.
New Chelsea signing Guro Reiten was the main threat but