Wiegman hoping returning faces provide competition

England women’s senior team head coach Sarina Wiegman was delighted to see a number of returning faces following the latest Lionesses squad announcement earlier this morning.

Notably, Alex Greenwood, Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp are all back in contention ahead of clashes against Portugal and Spain in Group A3 of the UEFA Women’s Nations League.

“I’m very happy some players have come back,” explained Wiegman. “They haven’t been around for a while so it’s really good news that they’re back in.

“The closer you come to the tournament and also to the final stage of the Nations League, players really want to show. They have played a very important role for the team but I think also, other players have stepped up over time.

“When everyone gets fit and ready to go, the competition is really high and that’s what we want because that will push everyone too and that brings the standard of training higher again because we have the best players in.”

There was also space in the latest 27-player squad for Tottenham Hotspur’s Ella Morris. The defender, who has represented England from under-15s right through to the under-23s, was rewarded with her first call-up by Wiegman.

“She couldn’t believe it,” said Wiegman. “We’ve been following her for a while because she’s a very talented player.

“She’s a full-back and her physicality is really good. She has shown some consistency, she’s done really well in the under-23s and I really want to see how she relates in our team, how close she is for selection and ready to play."

After scoring on her debut against Belgium last time out in April, Michelle Agyemang retained her place in the team.

The 19 year old striker was called into the squad mid-way through the camp to replace Alessia Russo who was forced to withdraw through injury and Agyemang made an instant impact on her senior bow.

“She’s a very high potential talent,” continued Wiegman. “She’s very powerful. As we have seen, she can score goals. We need to see a little bit more from her in our squad and see how the tactics come across.”

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Meanwhile, Missy Bo Kearns has been recalled to the squad, with the midfielder having sustained a foot injury in December which saw her sidelined.

“When she came out of the winter break, she had to recover,” said Wiegman. “After that, she started playing and what I see is some intensity in her game.

“She can play in different positions in midfield. She has been pretty dynamic and had a contribution with the under-23s but also with Aston Villa.”

With EURO 2025 on the horizon and Wiegman’s side set to kick off their campaign against France at Stadion Letzigrund on Saturday 5 July, preparations are already underway for the tournament but the Lionesses boss insisted she will be using intervening months to make a final call on which players will be on the plane to Switzerland.

“I want to see more players and don’t want to make final decisions now because we still have two games to play,” noted Wiegman. “After that, we’ll make final decisions so I don’t want to make that decision now for the EUROs.

“Now, we maybe have some players out who are still in contention for the EUROs squad.

“Some players are in different places and I just want to see them in our environment if that’s possible when they’re fit enough to train and make minutes to see how everyone relates to each other.”