Lionesses squad announcement: Fran Kirby, Jill Scott named in Euros squad, Steph Houghton misses out

Jill Scott and Fran Kirby have been included in Sarina Wiegman’s England squad of 23 players for the upcoming 2022 UEFA European Women’s Football Championship, but former captain Steph Houghton misses out.

The 35-year-old Scott goes to a 10th major tournament despite struggling with injury towards the end of the season on loan at Aston Villa. While Fran Kirby of Chelsea – injured since February – is also included.

However, there is no place for Houghton. The Manchester City player has only been able to string together five Women’s Super League appearances all season for her club following a serious Achilles problem.

The announcement saw England boss Wiegman cut her provisional squad down from 28 players. Sandy MacIver, Niamh Charles, Lucy Staniforth, and Katie Zelem are the other players to miss out.

The Lionesses are yet to taste defeat with Wiegman at the helm, scoring 72 goals and conceding just one in her 11 matches as boss. And the whittled-down squad are preparing for three friendlies – against Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland – ahead of the Euros.

England are in Group A alongside Austria, Norway, and Northern Ireland and kick off their campaign against Austria at Old Trafford on July 6.

Wiegman has previously said that England’s status as hosts would give them an opportunity to shine.

“This is a chance for us, you know? It’s a home Euros,” she said.

“Football is a game in which everyone is going to make mistakes, that’s fine, but we learn from mistakes. It’s okay to make mistakes, but [we need] to create a very high-performance environment where it’s safe to make mistakes.

“[We need to] embrace the situation that there are going to be expectations on us. That’s the environment we play in.”

SQUAD IN FULL

• Goalkeepers: Mary Earps, Hannah Hampton, Ellie Roebuck.
• Defenders: Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood, Demi Stokes, Lotte Wubben-Moy.
• Midfielders: Fran Kirby, Jill Scott, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Leah Williamson.
• Forwards: Bethany England, Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, Nikita Parris, Alessia Russo, Ellen White.