England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that Katie Robinson and Maya Le Tissier’s inclusion in her latest squad provides them with an opportunity to show what they can do at international level.
Wiegman named a 25-player squad for the upcoming international friendlies against Japan and Norway yesterday. The matches will take place at the Pinatar Arena in Spain. There were noticeable omissions from the squad for previous regulars while first senior call-ups were offered to Brighton & Hove Albion’s Robinson and Manchester United’s Le Tissier.
FAWSL Full-Time heard from Wiegman after naming her squad and she went on to discuss the maiden call-ups for Robinson and Le Tissier.
“She’s (Robinson) done well,” Wiegman said. “Sunday wasn’t her best game but over a period, she’s done well. She has some qualities that she has shown and we’d really like to see her in our environment at the top level and see what she can bring.
“We have about eight months until the World Cup and we want to see where the young players are now. Maya has done really well with the Under-23s and in her move to Manchester United. Hopefully, she’ll be really happy and do really well.
“This is an opportunity to show what they can do in our squad. Hopefully, they can compete quickly and give us some headaches when making decisions.”
Missing from the squad is captain Leah Williamson as she continues to recover from an injury, as well as Jess Carter and Demi Stokes who were both part of the UEFA Women’s EURO-winning team.
“It’s always difficult,” Wiegman added. “With Jess (Carter) we had a conversation and she’s really trying to get more freshness and back to being really fit. At this time, it’s best for her to stay at club.
“For Demi, she’s been with us for such a long time but for now, I want to see other younger players in defence.”
Another player still missing from the squad is Steph Houghton. The former England captain has been left out since before the EUROs and it seems unlikely that she will return as Wiegman looks to the future with younger players.
She said “I think for now, she is not ready to compete for us in the squad. She really needs minutes to show her consistency.
“I can’t look into the future but for now, we have young players coming in and doing really well.”
Something that Wiegman has been looking at when selecting her squads is the minutes that players have been playing for their club teams. Leaving out players in previous camps because of that fact, Arsenal fans will be pleased to see Jordan Nobbs recalled this time around.
“She didn’t get very many minutes last year but things can change very quickly,” Wiegman said. “She has played more minutes, taken the opportunity and that’s what made us pick her.”
Another player that fans will be delighted to see included is Fran Kirby. After being riddled with injury and illness, she has missed several games for Chelsea this season. However, Kirby has been called into camp by Wiegman as she believes that the forward plays an important role.
She said “She hasn’t played a lot of minutes (for Chelsea) but she plays a lot for our team, she has an important role. She is on the list and is being assessed right now and hopefully, she will progress this week and will be ready to come in.”
The England squad will meet at St George’s Park early next week before travelling to Spain in preparation for their international double-header.
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