England Lionesses aiming for continuity and energy ahead of Euros, says Sarina Wiegman
The Lionesses are preparing for a World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening
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Sarina Wiegman does not expect to shake up her current England squad too dramatically ahead of this summer’s Euros as she looks to form an “energetic and unpredictable” side.
There were no new call-ups to the manager’s squad ahead of the latest round of World Cup qualifiers, which started with last Friday’s comprehensive 10-0 victory against North Macedonia in Skopje.
Though Wiegman is still keeping a watchful eye on the domestic English action, she does not expect to make too many wholesale changes to the Lionesses ahead of this summer as she looks to build a consistent team capable of facing more sterner challenges.
“If you look at the whole season we have picked around 28, 29 players,” she said.
“I think you can’t expect that many changes but some players are still coming back from injury, so we hope we can see them too, that they get fit and they can compete for selection.
“I don’t think that there will be many players that have been fit all year that would make the squad. There’s always a chance, we always keep looking at players, keep watching the games. It’s always about performing, but at this moment I don’t expect big changes.
“What I want to see is a team, a team that people can tell we collaborate really well in and out of possession and really want to work hard for each other, but also that we show an unpredictable attacking game.
“Sometimes like last week’s match against North Macedonia you know that you’re playing on their half of the pitch all the time, but we will have games too where we have to defend a little more. That’s what we have to do as a team as well as possible, and still create chances.
“Hopefully people will see an energetic and unpredictable team with lots of team work shown.”
Wiegman was speaking ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland, who are also in her team’s Euro 2022 group this summer - and who the Lionesses beat 4-0 in the reverse fixture last October at Wembley.
Northern Ireland suffered a 3-1 defeat to Austria - another of England’s opponents at the tournament - on Friday and will be approaching this game as a must-win if they want to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Australia.
Wiegman is expecting a tough match in front of what is expected to be a large crowd at Windsor Park, though is still expecting a strong display - with new captain Leah Williamson returning from concussion.
She said: “As we approach every game we want to develop our style of play. We want to play well as a team, and again tomorrow we want to create lots of chances, concede no goals.
“It’s going to be a tough game tomorrow, it’s going to be a great crowd, a big occasion. I’m really looking forward to that and the team are too.
“For them [Northern Ireland], it’s the last chance they have to have any chance to qualify. For us, we want to win and get as close to qualifying as possible.
“Leah (Williamson) will play, that’s one change - but don’t expect too many changes.”
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