Sarina Wiegman has announced her 23 player squad for the final time this year, to conclude the Lionesses UEFA Nations League group stage fixtures. England will play Netherlands on Friday 1st December at Wembley Stadium and Scotland on Tuesday 5th December at Hampden Park. Both fixtures to kick off at 7.45pm.
Lionesses Squad for the final two games of 2023:
Changes to the squad from the last camp include Ellie Roebuck, Jess Park and Lucy Parker (injured) all missing out on a spot in Sarina’s squad.
Young stars Grace Clinton and Khiara Keating keep their places in the squad after their first call ups to the seniors in October. As does Fran Kirby, who in the home win against Belgium marked her return from a year-long injury.
Wiegman said: “It’s about quality and yes balance also. There’s a lot of competition going on and of course we want balance in our squad so the amount of attacking players, the amount of midfielders and defenders so your trying to find that balance. And its nice to have balance with younger players and older players.” Sarina added “it starts about quality and we talked about, okay who do we want to play, what do we need in the squad, if we need to change something. So you want different qualities in positions to. We think we have that balance now.”
One player that England fans will be delighted to hear is back in the squad is Beth Mead. Mead has recently picked up more minutes for the Gunners and played her first WSL start last weekend in a 3-0 win over Brighton in the WSL. She has been building up for a few months now and deservingly will be back with the Lionesses next week. Her return to the squad comes at an important time for the Lionesses ahead of two must-win fixtures.
Wiegman on Beth Mead’s return: “Of course that’s really nice. She’s played minutes and is in a good place and still building too. It was a very nice phone call and she was very happy.”
“She is a character that brings positive energy, on pitch and off pitch. I think we have a lot of players like that. Its good to have her back. Her experience, the way she plays. She’s different than other players on the wing so she brings different things so that’s good for the team. We have different opportunities again. I expect on and off the pitch that [she will] give us some extra energy.”
England’s hopes of earning a spot at next summer’s Olympic Games come down to these final two group stage fixtures. Following a shock defeat in Belgium last month means England are third in their group behind both Netherlands and Belgium with only 3 points separating these sides. The Lionesses must top their group for Team GB to qualify for Paris 2024 Olympics.
Wiegman added: “We know we’ll need to win our last two games of 2023 and we’ll give everything we have for that outcome. This group have shown resilience and strength of character time and time again and I have absolutely no doubts we’ll be ready to go when the whistle blows for both fixtures.”
After another historic year for the Lionesses draws to a close, a number of former Lionesses will be honoured at Wembley Stadium. Over 90 former Lionesses are expected to be in attendance. Ahead of kick-off there will be a celebration of Gilly Flaherty (9 caps), Abbie McManus (18 caps) and Jodie Taylor’s (51 caps) international careers to mark their recent retirements from football.
Kay Cossington, women’s technical director at the FA has said: “Connecting the current generation of players and fans to the history of the women’s game is really important for us all. Its part of our identity and who we are as a team and as a Lionesses family.”
You can watch the Press Conference here:
🎙 Sarina Wiegman join us live from St. George's Park! 🎙 https://t.co/3o9WFgq4yj
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) November 21, 2023
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