Return of experienced trio ‘really good news’ for England says Wiegman | OneFootball

England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that the return of Alex Greenwood, Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp to the squad is really good news.

Wiegman announced her 27-player squad for the latest UEFA Women’s Nations League double-header against Portugal and Spain this morning. Greenwood, Stanway and Hemp were handed recalls after stepping up their fitness following long-term injuries.

When speaking to the media in an England press conference, head coach Wiegman said that the trio’s return is a real positive and that she is hoping to now have some fresh selection headaches.

“They haven’t been around for a while but it’s really good news that they are back in [the squad],” Wiegman said.

“The closer you come to the tournament and the end of the Nations League, players really want to show. I hope we build the connections very quickly, get the performances to a higher level and they make it really hard for me and my technical staff to make decisions.”

While Greenwood, Stanway and Hemp are key players for England, Wiegman was keen to highlight those who have deputised in recent months, again emphasising the fact that the Lionesses have some strength-in-depth.

She said “They have played very important roles in the team but also, other players stepped up over time. When everyone is fit and ready to go, I think the competition is really high and that is what we want because that will push everyone.

“It brings the standard of training higher again because we have the best players in [the squad]. That’s really exciting and good to see and hopefully, it makes it really hard for me to make decisions.”

Wiegman has opted for a larger squad for the latest camp and she explained that she still needs to assess some options ahead of this summer’s UEFA Women’s EURO.

She said “I want to see more players and not make final decisions now because we still have two games to play. After that, we will make final decisions; I don’t want to make decisions now for the EUROs. We still have some players out that are in contention for the EURO squad too.”

England conclude their UEFA Women’s Nations League campaign with a fixture against Portugal at Wembley Stadium on Friday 30 May 2025 and an away game against Spain in Barcelona on Tuesday 3 June 2025.