England Women's squad named for Arnold Clark Cup

England have named a 26-player squad to compete for the Arnold Clark Cup against Korea Republic, Italy and Belgium this month.

The Lionesses were the inaugural winners of the four-nation competition on home soil last year before going on to become UEFA Women’s EURO champions in the summer.

With this year’s fixtures to be played on double-header match days in Milton Keynes, Coventry and Bristol, Sarina Wiegman’s squad will hope for three positive performances to set them up for the FIFA Women’s World Cup challenge in Australia beginning in July.

The players will report to St. George’s Park from Sunday evening and will remain at the Burton base to prepare for each of the three internationals.

In Wiegman’s first selection of 2023, uncapped goalkeeper Emily Ramsey makes the step up from the WU23 squad, while Laura Coombs returns to a Lionesses squad for the first time since November 2020.

Captain Leah Williamson is back in the squad after injury forced her out of November’s 4-0 defeat of Japan and 1-1 draw with Norway in Spain, while Jess Park, who scored on her debut in the first game, is also included again. Beth Mead is among those to miss out after suffering an injury just before Christmas.

“The first camp of the year is always important to set the right tone for what comes next, especially with such a big opportunity in the summer," said Wiegman.

"We're only looking forward now and we have to stay humble and focused on working hard. We know the fans will be with us again and we can’t wait to see them at every stadium.

“We had a positive experience with the Arnold Clark Cup last time. We had three tough matches with different challenges in each one, and we were able to learn a lot from our performances and work on many details which we are aiming to do again.”

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Manchester United), Sandy MacIver (Manchester City), Emily Ramsey (Everton, loan from Manchester United), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City)

Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Barcelona), Jess Carter (Chelsea), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)

Midfielders: Laura Coombs (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Jessica Park (Everton, loan from Manchester City), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Keira Walsh (Barcelona), Katie Zelem (Manchester United)

Forwards: Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Lauren James (Chelsea), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City), Katie Robinson (Brighton & Hove Albion), Alessia Russo (Manchester United), Ebony Salmon (Houston Dash)

The Arnold Clark Cup schedule

Thursday 16 February, Milton Keynes

4.45pm - Italy v Belgium,
7.45pm - England v Korea Republic

Sunday 19 February, Coventry 

3.15pm - England v Italy
6.15pm - Belgium v Korea Republic

Wednesday 22 February, Bristol City FC

4.45pm - Korea Republic v Italy
7.45pm - England v Belgium