Australia forward Caitlin Foord described Sam Kerr's late return to action in their 2-0 victory over Denmark as a "massive boost" for both team and player. 

Kerr came off the bench with just over 10 minutes left in Sydney to make her first appearance of the tournament after recovering from a calf injury. 

Roared by the crowd on her first touch, Kerr almost got on the scoresheet a couple of minutes later but saw her effort from inside the area go over. 

Despite not getting a goal, Foord believes the prolific Chelsea striker's return will be a worry for the other remaining teams in the tournament. 

The co-hosts will face France or Morocco in the quarter-finals on Saturday following their win over the Danes.

And Foord, who scored her side's opener, said: "It was a massive boost for us to have her back. I think also for her because this dream is hers as well. 

"She plays a massive part in our team and for us it was nice to see her back on and it just helps and boosts the team even more. 

"For the other teams looking ahead, it's a pretty scary to know she’s back in the team and I'm just really happy for her."

Soon after arriving onto the pitch in front of 75,000 fans, Kerr went down with another knock momentarily before getting back to her feet.

Australia coach Tony Gustavsson admitted he was concerned when he saw the incident but hopes his skipper will be fit to play more minutes going forward. 

He said: "I got very nervous and I didn't see it until she was on the floor. 

"Hopefully she is OK but I don't want to jump to any conclusions and I want to respect the process to see how she feels. 

"I think Sam coming back now could be a good thing because I don't think we need to look at her taking over because it's a team effort and a team tournament. 

"Sam coming back is the cream on the cake or ice on the cake."