With the women’s international break just around the corner, Sarina Wiegman has named her England squad to face the USA and Switzerland, but with several notable absences.
Ella Toone
The first is Manchester United’s Ella Toone, who has sustained a calf injury which saw her incredible run of 96 consecutive league games for her club come to an end.
Unavailable for United’s league victory against Leicester last weekend, she ended this run which saw her miss a club game for the first time since United’s promotion to the WSL.
Making her national team debut in February 2021, Toone has been a frequent name in the England Squad, making 53 appearances and scoring 19 goals since her first cap.
Lauren Hemp
Manchester City have recently confirmed that Hemp has undergone knee surgery after a spell of unavailability.
A key player for both club and country, Hemp has shown her influence on the game by tallying up the most assists and chances created in the WSL over the course of the season.
If a positive can be taken from this it is that Wiegman has confirmed that the sustained injury was not an ACL rupture, meaning the recovery time will be less substantial.
Making her senior debut in October 2019, the Manchester City winger has scored 18 goals in 61 appearances, showing her attacking quality, as with Ella Toone.
Lauren James:
Lauren James is still unavailable for selection after withdrawing from the last England camp after sustaining a calf injury prior to Chelsea’s Champions League victory over FC Twente.
In the October fixture, James was named in the starting line-up but withdrew before kick-off, with Bompastor confirming that the forward will be out for 5-6 weeks.
The 23-year-old made her senior England debut in September 2022, scoring 7 goals in 24 appearances thus far.
Other Absences:
Wiegman is also without Chelsea’s Niamh Charles, who was also unavailable for the October camp, and Aston Villa’s Lucy Parker, who is set for a spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
What does this mean for the squad?
These notable injuries mean that two new players have earned their first call-ups to the squad.
The first is Laura Blindkilde-Brown, an exciting young talent who signed for Manchester City from Aston Villa at the start of the year. She made over 50 appearances under Carla Ward and has also represented England at a number of youth levels.
The second is Leicester City’s Ruby Mace, who is also capped for England at U17, U19, and U23 level.
Although not her first England call-up, Anna Moorhouse is yet to make an appearance for England, making up the three uncapped players in Wiegman’s squad.
Manchester United’s Gabby George returns to the England squad for the first time since November 2022, after suffering an ACL injury that defined her 2023/24 season, alongside teammate Millie Turner who is back in the squad and looking to add to her single senior cap.
The upcoming games
Wembley welcomes a highly competitive fixture on the 30th of November as the Lionesses take on the highest-ranked international side in women’s football. The USA, now under former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, haven’t faced England since October 2022, where goals from Lauren Hemp and Georgia Stanway helped secure a 2-1 victory over the Americans.
Wiegman then goes on to face the hosts of next year’s Euros at Bramall Lane, in England’s last international fixture of the year. England have triumphed 4-0 in their last two games against Switzerland, having last faced them in an international friendly in June 2022.
With some big names on the sidelines, it has handed some big opportunities to some new players, who will be looking to capitalise on the opportunity handed to them over the duration of the camp, especially in the second friendly of the break, against Switzerland.
Although the injury list has forced Wiegman to bring new names into the squad, the Lionesses squad is no doubt still full of talent and promise as the calendar year looks set to close with two highly competitive fixtures.
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