Sarina Wiegman confirms Lauren James is fit for Euro 2025 final
James had picked up a knock to her ankle that saw her substituted at half time against Italy in the semi-final which left her a doubt for the showdown at St. Jakob Park on Sunday.
But having completed the whole of training today, Wiegman confirmed that she had 23 players at her disposal to face the world champions as England bid to defend their European Championship crown.
'We had 23 players on the pitch today and everyone came through. Everyone recovered well and we have 23 players available for Sunday,' she said.
'We have many players that can impact and we know that [Lauren James] can impact too.'
At the time of James' substitution against Italy, England found themselves a goal down owing to Barbara Bonansea's 33rd-minute strike.
It was the second time in the knockout stages the Lionesses had to fight back from a deficit as they conceded twice in the first half of the quarter-final against Sweden, too.
But an equaliser from Michelle Agyemang deep into stoppage time took them to extra time against Italy in Geneva before Chloe Kelly was first to react to her saved spot-kick and put England into a third consecutive major final.
Such nail-biting performances has led to criticism of the levels the Lionesses are performing at as they showed a tendency to start games slowly, but Wiegman feels it is a reflection of the ever-improving standards in women's football.
'It shows what the competition is and has been in this tournament. It's improving so much and it's so competitive, every game is a hard game,' she said.
'I'm just really glad that we made it through and of course I hoped that we had done it a little bit earlier but it's also when you are in some scenarios you hope you can turn it around with some subs or a shape change.
'But the most important thing is that the players believe we can win and change the game. That's what we've shown.'
That external scrutiny will continue as England head to Basel with the possibility of becoming the first England team to win a major tournament trophy on foreign soil.
But Wiegman remains as calm as ever content in their achievements to-date but single-mindedly focused on preparing her team to win rather than outside perceptions.
'Every tournament of course you want to perform and there are expectations but you also have expectations from yourself,' she explained.
'I just know that going into a final is already very, very special. There are only two teams that can make the final so if you talk about pressure, that's not really a pressure, that's very special.
'When you got to a final you really want to win it too. We're happy that we're in the final and we really want to win it and we're going to do everything to make that happen.'
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