Aggie Beever-Jones has discussed her battle to start for England over Alessia Russo, as she hopes to give Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman the “right kind of headaches”.
The Chelsea forward plays a backup role to Russo, but has impressed for the Lionesses with seven goals in 14 games.
Beever-Jones played just five minutes of the 8-0 victory over China, where Russo scored the final goal.
However, Beever-Jones looks likely to start Tuesday’s clash against Ghana in Southampton, after speaking to the media during the pre-match press conference on Monday.
Aggie Beever-Jones on “competition” with Alessia Russo
Aggie Beever-Jones described Alessia Russo as “one of the best strikers in the world” but believes she can hold her own against the Arsenal star.
The 22-year-old spoke about how things have changed for her since making her England debut in July 2024.
She said: “When I first came in I was the new one so, I was a bit nervous and wanted to impress, but I have loved my time in the set-up so far.
“Hopefully I’ve showed people what I can do and I’m looking to build on that. I still see myself as a young player, and it’s the environment I want to be in. I look at people like Alessia [Russo] and she’s one of the best strikers in the world and she’s such great competition.
“I feel very lucky, but I feel I can hold myself in training and push for more game time.”
Beever-Jones also said that she hopes to pose Wiegman a headache in future camps on the road to the 2027 World Cup.
She said: “Playing for England is one of the greatest honours and every time I get the chance I want to show people what I can do and give Sarina [Wiegman] the right kind of headaches. Every player wants to play for England and wants to take the opportunity.”
Beever-Jones vs Russo stats this season
During the opening two months of the campaign, the stats showed that Beever-Jones should start for England.
The Chelsea forward netted in each of her opening four games of the campaign, as well as in the 3-0 win over Australia in October.
Her early-season performances led to winning the WSL Player of the Month award for September, but since then, her goals have slowed down.
Her goal against Australia on October 28th is the only time she has scored since Chelsea’s 4-0 win over West Ham on October 28th.
Russo, on the other hand, started slowly but has found scoring form since the start of October.
She is leading the Champions League Golden Boot race with four goals, after scoring a recent brace against Real Madrid. Russo has also tied Beever-Jones for four goals in the WSL.
Since Beever-Jones last scored for Chelsea, Russo has netted six goals in nine games for the Gunners.
Wiegman to make England changes vs Ghana
Beever-Jones’ expected inclusion for England against Ghana is just one of a number of changes that could be made for the Lionesses’ final friendly of 2025.
Wiegman said: “We’ll make some changes tomorrow but also we don’t have that many chances to play and play friendlies. After this camp, we only have eight more to go into World Cup and we need to qualify first.”
During the press conference, Wiegman also revealed that defender Grace Fisk has withdrawn from the squad due to an injury.
