England’s women national team manager Sarina Wiegman has named a 28-player provisional England squad ahead of the 2022 UEFA Women’s European championship.
Leah Williamson will lead the Lionesses, supported by Millie Bright and Ellen White as vice-captains while Steph Houghton, Fran Kirby and Chloe Kelly make welcome returns to the fold. Jill Scott is also named as she too works on her fitness, but Jordan Nobbs has been ruled out for the summer because of a knee injury.
The final 23-player selection is due to be confirmed in mid-June ahead of the EURO finals, starting with England’s fixture against Austria at Old Trafford, Manchester on Wednesday 6 July.
The Lionesses will report to St. George’s Park on Monday 30 May to Wednesday 1 June for an initial preparation period before picking up their work again at the national football centre from Monday 6 June to Friday 10 June.
The squad will then return to the home of England teams on Monday 13 June ahead of the first of three warm-up fixtures on Thursday 16 June when Belgium travel to the Molineux home of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The second warm-up fixture will follow on Friday 24 June when the Lionesses face the Netherlands at Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium. The following week will see England spend five days training in Basel including a fixture against Switzerland at the Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich.
UEFA’s deadline to submit a 23-player squad for this summer’s tournament is at 10.59pm (BST) on Sunday 26 June, after which teams are able to make unlimited replacements before their first match in the event of serious injury or illness (including COVID-19 or ‘close contact’ to positive case).
Below is the 28 players
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Manchester United), Hannah Hampton (Aston Villa), Sandy MacIver (Everton), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City)
Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Manchester City), Jess Carter (Chelsea), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Demi Stokes (Manchester City), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Jill Scott (Aston Villa, loan from Manchester City), Lucy Staniforth (Manchester United), Georgia Stanway (Manchester City), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Keira Walsh (Manchester City), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Katie Zelem (Manchester United)
Forwards: Bethany England (Chelsea), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Nikita Parris (Arsenal), Alessia Russo (Manchester United), Ellen White (Manchester City)
Credit: England football
