England Women: Captain Leah Williamson and Chelsea’s Fran Kirby return to Lionesses squad for Arnold Clark Cup | Football News

February 7, 2023 admin

Captain Leah Williamson and Chelsea’s Fran Kirby return to Sarina Wiegman’s 26-player England squad for the Arnold Clark Cup, but there is no place for Aston Villa’s Jordan Nobbs or Spurs’ Beth England.

Williamson and Kirby return to the Lionesses cap after missing out on the last squad through injury, and add some experience to a line-up including 10 players who have played less than 10 games for their country.

Uncapped goalkeeper Emily Ramsey is among the new faces in the squad, while Maya Le Tissier, Jessica Park and Katie Robinson are all looking to add to their single caps so far.

The injured Beth Mead misses out on the squad from Wiegman’s last announcement, along with Man City’s Esme Morgan and Man Utd forward Nikita Parris. Everton defender Gabby George also drops out, only days after she was named WSL Player of the Month for January.

Nobbs and England, who both moved clubs in January in search of more minutes, will have to make their cases to Wiegman in the final months of the season ahead of the World Cup after another omission.

The Lionesses will play South Korea, Italy and Begium in this year’s Arnold Clark Cup, with the Finalissima against Brazil in April their only scheduled game before their World Cup opener with Denmark in July.

Wiegman said: “The first camp of the year is always important to set the right tone for what comes next, especially with such a big opportunity in the summer.

“We are only looking forward now and we have to stay humble and focused on working hard. We know the fans will be with us again and we can’t wait to see them at every stadium.

“We had a positive experience with the Arnold Clark Cup last time. We had three tough matches with different challenges in each one, and we were able to learn a lot from our performances and work on many details which we are aiming to do again.”

England squad in full

Goalkeepers: Mary Earps, Sandy MacIver, Ellie Roebuck, Emily Ramsey

Defenders: Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood, Maya Le Tissier, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy

Midfielders: Laura Coombs, Fran Kirby, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Katie Zelem

Forwards: Lauren Hemp, Lauren James, Chloe Kelly, Jessica Park, Katie Robinson, Alessia Russo, Ebony Salmon