Pavlodar has long been known for hosting chess tournaments and producing leading ice hockey players but is not usually synonymous with staging international football matches.
That changes on Tuesday afternoon when the most experimental England side of Phil Neville’s short tenure play in the north-eastern corner of Kazakhstan hoping to emphasise why they should be ranked among the favourites to win next summer’s World Cup in France.
With England having qualified for the tournament thanks to Friday’s 3-0 win against Wales in Newport and Kazakhstan having long since abandoned any hope of joining them at the finals, this last qualifier could have been the most lifeless of dead rubbers.
Instead Neville has offered seven young players their full debuts, leaving behind six key components of his squad and making 11 changes to the side that started in south Wales.
Everton’s Gabby George, Birmingham’s Lucy Staniforth and Reading’s Lauren Bruton are set to earn their maiden senior caps while Wolfsburg’s Mary Earps, Chelsea’s Hannah Blundell and Arsenal’s Beth Mead and Leah Williamson will make their first starts.
“There’s so much depth of talent now in the women’s game in England,” said Neville after naming his XI a day early. “I’m determined to give youngsters the opportunity to progress through the ranks.”
Instead of making the seven-and-a-half-hour flight east, Jodie Taylor (Seattle Reign), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Ellen White (Birmingham), Alex Greenwood (Manchester United) and Jill Scott and Melissa Lawley (both Manchester City) have returned to their clubs.
With the English Women’s Super League season starting on Saturday, their omission will come as a relief to assorted managers and Manchester City’s Nick Cushing in particular.
Neville hopes his slimmed-down squad can reprise the 5-0 win a side then under the caretaker stewardship of Mo Marley enjoyed against bottom-placed Kazakhstan at Colchester last November.
“It’s vital that we provide younger players with a clear pathway through to the senior team,” said England’s uber-meritocratic coach, who is anxious to create intense competition for places and hopes a handful of Marley’s under-20 squad will be on the plane to France next summer. “Regardless of the result against Wales this was always part of our long-term plan.”
