Lexi Potter: 'The biggest game we’ll play all season'

There is silverware up for grabs this season when England women’s under-23s take on Sweden in the final of the WU23 European Competition.

The Young Lionesses, who beat the Netherlands 1-0 in the semi-final earlier this week, kick off at 11am BST on Friday 17 April, with the final taking place at the Murcia Stadium.

And England and Chelsea midfielder Lexi Potter, who started and played the semi-final, is up for the challenge.

“Finals don't come around a lot and to be able to be in one with England, it's really exciting,” said Potter. “We don't have a EUROs at under-23s level, so for us, it’s probably the biggest game we’ll play all season.

“It’s really important to add that extra edge of competitiveness. We’ve worked hard season in this tournament to be able to lift the trophy.”

Led by new WU23s head coach Lydia Bedford – who won her first game in charge – Isobel Goodwin’s 46th minute strike was the difference between the two teams on Monday in Spain.

“The conditions made it quite tough in the heat and at times it got a bit transitional but we got the win,” continued Potter. “We did create a lot of chances, especially in the first half. We’re just building on that in the next game.”

Potter, who has represented England at youth level from WU17s right through to the WU23s, has enjoyed quite the start to the year.

The 19 year old netted the winner in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion last month on her first BWSL start, earning her the player of the match accolade. And it’s performances like that which could catch Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman’s eye.

“It's a goal of mine to be in the senior team,” stated Potter, who became the youngest female player in England to sign a professional deal when she put pen to paper with Chelsea in 2023.

“It's really inspiring to see other players going up to the first team. It just shows that there is a pathway through the youth age groups into the senior team.

“I was in Lithuania with Keira [Barry] and Freya [Godfrey] and I've played with Erica [Meg Parkinson] quite a lot since the WU17s through the age groups. It just shows that there are opportunities in the future.

“All the girls at club level, they really push me in training every day. Being around top senior England players every day, they’re really good with me, especially Keira [Walsh]. I'm able to learn off her a lot. She's really approachable and I can get a lot of advice from her.

“Aggie [Beever-Jones], as well. We’ve had quite similar journeys coming through the academy. We’ve been in similar positions coming back from loans and coming back into Chelsea. It's difficult to break into such a good team and she's been really supportive of me.”

Having been with Chelsea since the age of eight, a double loan spell with Crystal Palace provided her with senior exposure, going on to be named the young player of the year and achieve promotion while at Palace.

At international level, the teenager has been to three major tournaments – the highlight being captaining the WU17s to the semi-finals of the 2023 UEFA Women's U17 Championship in Estonia.

“It was our first tournament and looking back, we were so young,” she said. “We managed to get some good results and unfortunately, we lost to Spain but on the whole, it was a really good experience at such a young age.

“For me personally, it really motivated me to keep pushing every day because that's what's to come.”

And with two U19s EUROs under her belt, attention turns to the 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup which will be staged in Poland later this year in September.

“That was one of my favourites in Lithuania [in 2024],” she explained. “We drew to Serbia in the second game and it all came down to the last game in the group against France to qualify for the semi-final and we won the game 1-0 which was one of my favourite games I've played in.

“In the summer, it didn't go how we wanted it to go, not getting into the semi-finals but we qualified for the World Cup and we have that opportunity to put it right and get what we want from the tournament.”