England Women's senior squad named for April qualifiers

 

The squad remains largely unchanged from the group who won the first edition of the four-nation Arnold Clark Cup last month. Chelsea’s Bethany England returns to the squad in place of team-mate Fran Kirby who is remaining with her club to work on her own programme. Steph Houghton is still sidelined after undergoing an operation at the end of February. 

 

England’s April camp will begin with a fixture against North Macedonia on Friday 8 April (7pm BST) at the Toše Proeski Arena in Skopje. Four days later, they face Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in Belfast on Tuesday 12 April (7.55pm BST). The fixture will be an intriguing one with England facing the same opponents in the EURO group stage this summer.  

 

Wiegman said: “I'm really looking forward to getting the group back together and hope we can continue our progress as we aim to qualify for the World Cup. We will need to be fully focused as I expect both our opponents to give all they can.

“Every time we play, we want to perform to our best and do what is necessary to get a good result. That will be no different for these two important fixtures.

 

“It's also another opportunity for us to learn more about ourselves for the EUROs, particularly against a team we will play in our final group stage match. For now though we have to think only about these next games, working hard to improve our style of play and performing well to get positive results.” 

 

The Lionesses are top of Group D having won six from six so far under Wiegman in the qualifying campaign, with four matches remaining on the road to the World Cup due to be staged in Australia and New Zealand next year. They sit five points ahead of second-placed Austria, with only the group winners qualifying automatically.  

 

Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Manchester United), Hannah Hampton (Aston Villa), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City)

 

Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Manchester City), Jess Carter (Chelsea), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Demi Stokes (Manchester City), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)

 

Midfielders: Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Jill Scott (Aston Villa, loan from Manchester City), Georgia Stanway (Manchester City), Keira Walsh (Manchester City), Katie Zelem (Manchester United)

 

Forwards: Bethany England (Chelsea) Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Nikita Parris (Arsenal), Alessia Russo (Manchester United), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Ellen White (Manchester City)