England Women’s senior team head coach Hege Riise has named a 21-player squad for the forthcoming June international camp.
Riise has opted for a pared-back Lionesses squad consisting predominantly of those England players who have been selected to represented Team GB Football at this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The 19 English players whose Olympics selection was confirmed last week will be further boosted by call-ups for goalkeepers Carly Telford and Hannah Hampton.
Olympique Lyonnais’s Nikita Parris will be fully integrated into the majority of the squad’s activities but will be rested from travelling to the training camp in order to manage her load after a long and demanding season.
The squad will meet up for the six-day camp at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre on Sunday 6 June.
And there will be a keen focus on managing players’ individual development plans and training loads as well as preparing the Tokyo-bound players for the physical conditions they will experience in Japan.
Last week’s Team GB squad announcement saw players selected on the basis of a rigorous independent assessment of ability, mentality, physical fitness and versatility; crucial to successfully managing the demands of a major tournament.
The England cohort will be further challenged against these criteria to ensure they are optimally prepared in readiness for Team GB Football’s Olympic campaign.
“While this is purely an England camp, it felt sensible to really focus in now on preparations for the Olympics with the English players who have been selected for Team GB,” Riise told englandfootball.com, following her selection.
“Scotland’s Kim Little and Caroline Weir and Wales’ Sophie Ingle will potentially be in action when the two nations meet in this international window. We’ll watch that match with great interest as well as ensuring we keep in regular touch with them before we meet for the first GB Football camp on 17 June.
“While England Men begin their UEFA EURO campaign at St. George’s Park, we’re excited to be basing ourselves at Bisham Abbey and look forward to making full use of their acclimation chambers as part of our work to prepare players for the hot and humid conditions we will face in Japan.
“I also look forward to seeing Carly Telford and Hannah Hampton on this camp. They narrowly missed out on selection for Team GB but they both have a very exciting future with England as we look ahead to the home UEFA Women’s EURO next summer and the FIFA Women’s World Cup beyond that.”
The Squad
Goalkeepers: Karen Bardsley (OL Reign), Hannah Hampton (Birmingham City), Sandy MacIver (Everton), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City), Carly Telford (Chelsea),
Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Manchester City), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Demi Stokes (Manchester City), Leah Williamson (Arsenal), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Jill Scott (Manchester City), Keira Walsh (Manchester City)
Forwards: Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Nikita Parris (Olympique Lyonnais), Georgia Stanway (Manchester City), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Ellen White (Manchester City
