England's Houghton and Kirby included provisional Euros squad

Steph Houghton and Fran Kirby ARE included in Sarina Wiegman’s provisional England squad for the Women’s Euros but both face a race against time to be fit – while Jordan Nobbs misses out due to a knee injury

  • Steph Houghton and Fran Kirby are both in England’s provisional Euros squad
  • But both face a race against time to prove their fitness before the tournament
  • Houghton has not played since January after having surgery on an achilles injury
  • Kirby has not featured since February because of a fatigue-related issue
  • There is no place in the squad for Arsenal’s Jordan Nobbs, who has a knee injury 

Steph Houghton and Fran Kirby have both been included in England’s provisional squad for the Women’s Euros but face a race against time to prove their fitness before the tournament.

Sarina Wiegman has named a 28-player squad but will have to cut that down to 23 by the second week of June.

Houghton, who captained the Lionesses in their last three tournaments, has not played since January after undergoing surgery on an achilles injury. She has also not played a game under Wiegman since the Dutch coach took charge in September.


Steph Houghton (left) and Fran Kirby (right) are in England’s provisional Women’s Euros squad

GOALKEEPERS: Mary Earps, Ellie Roebuck, Hannah Hampton, Sandy MacIver.

DEFENDERS: Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood, Steph Houghton, Demi Stokes, Lotte Wubben-Moy.

MIDFIELDERS: Fran Kirby, Jill Scott, Lucy Staniforth, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Leah Williamson (C) , Katie Zelem.

FORWARDS: Beth England, Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, Nikita Parris, Alessia Russo, Ellen White.

Kirby, meanwhile, has not played for club or country since February due to a fatigue-related issue. However, she was fit enough to make the bench for Chelsea in the FA Cup final on Sunday.

There is no place in the squad for Arsenal’s Jordan Nobbs, however, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.

The midfielder missed the 2019 World Cup after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament and picked up another knee injury in Arsenal’s game against Aston Villa at the start of the month.

Wiegman has called up Manchester City winger Chloe Kelly for the first time after the winger returned from injury last month. Kelly missed the majority of the season after recovering from an ACL injury but finished the campaign strongly and now has the chance to impress.

‘The Euros are getting closer, and this is a big step towards the tournament,’ Wiegman said after announcing her squad. ‘We have a settled squad and I know we have players in our team that will give everything to make it a summer to remember.

‘It is important the players have the chance to get some rest now after a very busy season before we get back to our work. We then have a series of prep camps coming up and it is important we use this time to build an even closer connection on and off the pitch.

Sarina Wiegman has named a 28-player squad but will have to cut that down to 23 in June

There is no place in the squad for Arsenal’s Jordan Nobbs, who has an ongoing knee injury

‘We also look forward to welcoming those who have been working individually and with their clubs on their fitness in the past few weeks. We are hoping to have them back on the pitch when the series of pre-camps start, so we can see where they are at.’

Wiegman will cut her squad down to 23 before England’s first warm-up game with Belgium on June 16.

It was announced in April that Leah Williamson will captain the team for the tournament with Millie Bright selected as vice-captain.


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