England boss Sarina Wiegman hopeful Lauren James will be fit for Euros

Rhyl Journal

13-05-2025

The 23-year-old suffered a hamstring injury in April, missing the business end of the Blues' sixth-straight Women's Super League title-winning campaign, and remains unavailable for England's upcoming Nations League meetings with Portugal and Spain.
Experienced trio Georgia Stanway, Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp all make their respective returns from long-term knee injuries, while there is a maiden senior call-up for Tottenham defender Ella Morris.
'We look at (James) as an individual,' said Wiegman. 'She is where she should be at. She can't join us in the next camp but with her we are trying to build her with her club.
Here it is…🤩
The #Lionesses squad named for our #UWNL group stage finale! 👊
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) May 13, 2025
'She wants to go to the Euros and hopefully we can get her fit and ready to go into it. She needs to be helped and able to train. Then you can build a bit. You need to find balance in your squad. You can't bring in three or four players in that stage (returning from injury).
'She is working really hard to get fit. It's also a fact that she has performed really well and developed quickly.
'She has really showed up for Chelsea and for us so I want to give her a chance. She is a special player who can have moments in the game where she is decisive. I know she is working really hard to get there.
'We have many options up front. I hope everyone does really well and of course, it's nice to have that opportunity again. I hope I get lots of headaches as that means everyone is performing at the highest level and we have decisions to make.'
James scored three goals at the 2023 Women's World Cup, where she also added three assists, but has experienced a number of injury setbacks.
Wiegman is expected to name the 23-player squad that will travel Switzerland – and defend the Lionesses' first major silverware – at the conclusion of their final Nations League group stage encounters.
They first host Portugal at Wembley on May 30 before travelling to meet group leaders Spain on June 3.
The England boss feels it is too soon to make any decisions about her final selections for the Euros, where the Lionesses will play France in their Zurich opener on July 5.
Wiegman was delighted for England's Arsenal contingent, and insisted the fact that they will be playing in the Champions League final on May 24 was 'not a concern'.
A selection of Manchester City and Manchester United players could also take part in the inaugural World Sevens seven-a-side tournament, with its 5 million USD (£3.7m) prize pot, before that Lisbon final in the Portuguese capital.
Wiegman said she and her team have had 'conversations with clubs' about that competition, adding players 'know what they need'.
She said: 'Of course they are not going to overload themselves. They're going to do smart things knowing what's ahead of them, so I don't see it as a big problem.'