Wiegman optimistic Lauren James will be fit for Lionesses' squad at Euro 2025
Sarina Wiegman spoke positively about Lauren James' chances of being fit enough to play at this summer's European Championship, as she prepares to name her final squad of 23 players for the tournament on Thursday.
The Chelsea forward has been sidelined since sustaining a hamstring injury in April during a victory for England at home to Belgium at Ashton Gate, and her involvement in July's Euros in Switzerland has been in doubt, but on Tuesday night Wiegman appeared more than optimistic.
'With LJ [James], she is of course on the pitch [training], she is still in the position that we expect her to be, so she's progressing in the rehab and that's going really well, so I'm positive about that.'
Wiegman also offered an encouraging update on the return to full fitness of England's Bayern Munich midfielder Georgia Stanway, who made her first start in 2025 after recovering from a knee injury when she was in the starting lineup for Tuesday's 2-1 loss against Spain. Stanway was withdrawn at half-time but Wiegman clarified that the 26-year-old had not suffered a setback, saying: On Stanway: 'No [she does not have an injury], she's in a very good place.
'But she hasn't played for such a long time – Friday's were her first minutes after she'd been training, of course. She could play [only for] 45 minutes. I think she wanted to play more, of course, she always wants to play more, she's in such a good place, but I think this was very smart [to substitute her] to take care of her.'
Wiegman also paid tribute to Fran Kirby, after the Brighton forward's sudden announcement of her retirement, adding: 'First of all I love working with her [Kirby]. She has had an incredible career and it is still going on in the WSL. She's an amazing player and an incredible person too.
Sign up to Moving the Goalposts
No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football
after newsletter promotion
'She did everything to make the squad. Fran and I have had several conversations. I had conversations with her over this week again, looking forward to this game and I said to her that she most likely would not make the squad, even though things could change quickly. We had these honest conversations.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Sarina Wiegman breaks silence on Millie Bright making herself unavailable for England's Euros title defence
Sarina Wiegman has spoken for the first time since Millie Bright ruled herself out of contention for England 's Euros squad. Bright confirmed she was making herself unavailable in an emotional statement on Wednesday due to not being able to give 100 per cent 'mentally or physically'. The 31-year-old, who played in every game of England's Euros triumph three years ago and captained the side to the World Cup final in 2023, became the third England player to drop out in eight days following the international retirements of Mary Earps and Fran Kirby. After naming her 23-player squad on Thursday, Wiegman was asked for her thoughts on Bright's situation and whether any more could have been done to help her. Wiegman responded: 'It's sad. It's disappointing. It's not nice...I just hope she feels well soon. 'We are in conversations, what we all tried to do is perform at the highest level, recover, and do that again. That's what Chelsea is in, and the players want to be involved in. You try to manage minutes and that is what Sonia [Bompastor] and we have been doing too. Bright captained Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses to the World Cup final two years ago 'What we try to do also is give all the support off the pitch, and you hope that players stay in a good place, and unfortunately, that is not the case at the moment for Millie.' Bright won a domestic Treble with Chelsea this season, but withdrew from England's squad for their recent Nations League matches with Portugal and Spain. Appearing on her podcast Daly Brightness with former England team-mate Rachel Daly last week, Bright revealed why she had chosen to step away from international duty for now. 'I think mentally and physically I'm at my limits, which is why I'm not at camp,' Bright told the Aston Villa star. 'That is a really hard decision but I think you know better than anyone as well - sometimes you just have to take that time for yourself. 'You need to value yourself and your mental health and body, and just say that no, right now is not the time for you.' Bright has won 88 caps for England since making her debut in 2016 and will leave a significant void at the heart of the defence this summer when the Lionesses head to Switzerland. England have been handed a tough group which will see them face France, the Netherlands and Wales. With Bright not in the picture, Wiegman opted to name five centre back options in her Euros squad - captain Leah Williamson, Alex Greenwood, Esme Morgan, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Maya Le Tissier - while Jess Carter can also play centrally or at full back.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Eberechi Eze ‘trusting it will work out' over Crystal Palace's European hopes
Palace qualified for Europe for the first time in their history by winning the FA Cup last month, but their place is under threat because of UEFA rules surround multi-club ownership. John Textor holds a 43 per cent stake in Palace through his company Eagle Football and he is also the owner of French club Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League with a sixth-placed finish in Ligue 1. 😏 — Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 19, 2025 A decision is expected soon and Eze, who is with England for their World Cup qualifier against Andorra and friendly with Senegal, is optimistic. 'I really hope that Palace do get the reward because of what it took to actually achieve that,' Eze told reporters. 'It would be a huge shame if that was not the case but I'm trusting that it will work out in the end. 'It should work itself out because there's players who have worked to be in this position. 'There are fans who have been with the team throughout the whole season and experienced everything.' Meanwhile, Trevoh Chalobah is backing Thomas Tuchel to bring a 'winning culture' to England. A week to remember for @TrevohChalobah ❤️ — England (@England) June 3, 2025 The 25-year-old defender has received his maiden call-up for Tuchel's squad, which is another slice of recognition by the German. Chalobah said: 'He's the one who gave me my Chelsea debut. 'It's been good moments shared with him. He's a very tough manager. And I think that's what us players need going into the World Cup next year, and obviously in these games, just to build us up. 'He's a very good coach. He wants to win. He's a winner, you know? And he's seen that Chelsea, he's won, and he wants to bring that same winning culture here.'
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Can Liam Delap finally end the curse of Chelsea's number nine shirt?
The shirt had been unused for two full seasons, former manager Thomas Tuchel admitting 'nobody wants to touch it', after its last dozen occupants struggled to make a prolonged impact – including three club-record signings up front, but also a holding midfielder and a certain Dutch defender. Our new No.9. 😍 — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 5, 2025 Here, the PA news agency looks at the 'Curse of Khalid Boulahrouz'. After arriving with a broken jaw sustained in a robbery at his Barcelona home and seeing his former Borussia Dortmund boss Tuchel sacked the day after his debut, the ex-Arsenal star failed to establish himself in west London. He was not even included in the squad for the Champions League knock-out stages, despite scoring two of his three Chelsea goals in the group stage. The Belgium striker returned from Inter Milan for £97.5m for a second spell at the club but within months, his frustrations became clear in an interview with Sky Sport Italia. Despite 15 goals in all competitions, it was no surprise when he was loaned back to Inter then Roma before joining Napoli. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was the last inarguably-successful Chelsea number nine but amid over £250m spent to fill the troublesome shirt in the 18 years since his departure, academy product Abraham produced perhaps the most successful spell with 30 goals in two seasons to earn a move to Roma under former Blues boss Jose Mourinho. The Argentinian's loan from Juventus yielded just five goals in 18 appearances. A then club-record buy for £60m, the Spaniard scored 15 goals in his debut season but fell out of favour, netting nine more as number 29 before joining Atletico Madrid. The Colombian scored once in 12 games in an injury-hit season. The then British-record £50m signing from Liverpool got the longest run at making the Blues' number nine shirt work for him, wearing it 172 times across three-and-a-half seasons. He scored 45 goals, including a memorable Champions League semi-final clincher against Barcelona, but several prolonged droughts saw him move on to AC Milan, on loan, and then Atletico Madrid. Fourteen scoreless substitute appearances were all Di Santo had to show for his time in west London. The former Reading midfielder managed only 24 appearances, scoring once. A largely-defensive player, he would have been a glaringly unlikely number nine, had it not been for his immediate predecessor… The versatile Netherlands defender was assigned one of the few available numbers after his £8.5m arrival from Hamburg. He lasted one season and 23 appearances in all competitions before a loan to Sevilla and a permanent exit to Stuttgart. The Argentina striker had already spent a season at Stamford Bridge wearing number 21 – scoring 12 goals – and a year on loan at AC Milan before Mourinho recalled him and gave him number nine. He added another 13 goals and a league title but soon left for Inter. Inheriting the shirt from Hasselbaink, Kezman scored just seven goals in his sole season.
