West Ham United defender Lucy Parker has hailed club teammate Mackenzie Arnold ahead of England’s fixture against Australia.
The pair could meet on opposing sides in an Alzheimer’s Society International at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford this evening.
When speaking about Arnold in an England media session, defender Parker said that her club teammate is a fantastic talent.
“She’s a fantastic goalkeeper and the way that she performs every week speaks for itself,” Parker said.
“If we get to face each other this week, it’ll be quite cool.”
Should Parker be selected this evening, she will make her England debut at senior level. The player was initially called-up for the October 2022 camp but she was forced to pull out through injury. Parker said that her West Ham United teammates were excited to learn of her call-up, although there hasn’t been too much talk about her potential debut.
The defender said “There’s not been that much (talk about making my debut) but they were all very excited for me when the news came out.
“I think it is the same for all of us; when a player gets a first international call-up, it is a great thing for the player, it’s happiness.”
Parker has now spent the last week with the England squad. The player says that she has been using the experience to learn from other members of the group.
“I spoke to my coach Dani (Bowman) who was at St George’s Park last week, catching up,” Parker said. “There’s so much experience and talent in the squad that I just want to draw from everybody. I’ve spent the week learning from everyone and getting to know everybody the best that I can.”
England’s Alzheimer’s Society International against Australia in Brentford kicks-off at 7.45pm.