Steph Houghton and Fran Kirby have been handed England recalls as part of a 28-player provisional squad for this summer’s home European Championships.
Kirby missed April’s World Cup qualifiers before announcing an indefinite spell on the sidelines as she struggled with fatigue-related illness, but returned to the Chelsea squad for Sunday’s FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, where she was an unused substitute, and has been named in the enlarged party, set to be whittled down to 23 in mid-June.
Houghton, meanwhile, has not played for England since suffering an Achilles injury in head coach Sarina Wiegman’s first game in charge against North Macedonia in September, and in that time has lost the captaincy to Arsenal star Leah Williamson.
The Man City defender returned to action for her club side in January, only to aggravate the issue and be ruled out again, but Wiegman is giving the 33-year-old, who has won more than 100 caps, every chance to prove her fitness ahead of the tournament, which begins on July 6.
There are few surprises in Wiegman’s first major tournament squad, with Arsenal midfielder Jordan Nobbs, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury, the only player to miss out from the 24 initially named for last month’s internationals.
“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,” Wiegman said.
As expected, Houghton’s City teammate Chloe Kelly is also back in the fold, the winger having spent 11 months on the sidelines with an ACL injury before making her comeback in the latter part of the domestic season.
There are also returns for Everton goalkeeper Sandy MacIver and Manchester United midfielder Lucy Staniforth, while Jill Scott, who spent the second half of the WSL season on loan from Man City to Aston Villa is, like Houghton, named in the squad despite fitness concerns, having missed the end of the campaign.
There are still 50 days until the Lionesses’ group stage opener against Austria, with the squad not set to join up for the first time at St. George’s Park until May 30.
England will play three warm-up fixtures in June - against Belgium and the Netherlands at home and away to Switzerland - before meeting the Austrians at a sold-out Old Trafford.
England provisional squad for Euro 2022
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Man United), Hannah Hampton (Aston Villa), Sandy MacIver (Everton). Ellie Roebuck (Man City)
Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Man City), Jess Carter (Chelsea), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), Alex Greenwood (Man City), Steph Houghton (Man City), Demi Stokes (Man City), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Jill Scott (Man City), Lucy Staniforth (Man United), Georgia Stanway (Man City), Ella Toone (Man United), Keira Walsh (Man City), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Katie Zelem (Man United)
Forwards: Beth England (Chelsea), Lauren Hemp (Man City), Chloe Kelly (Man City), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Nikita Parris (Arsenal), Alessia Russo (Man United), Ellen White (Man City)
