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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
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Jack Lacey-Hatton

Sarina Wiegman gives her verdict on forward options after Rachel Daly double downs Italy

England manager Sarina Wiegman says her squad are giving her selection "headaches" after Rachel Daly's double secured a 2-1 win over Italy.

Daly scored a header in each half as the Lionesses edged out Le Azzurre in Coventry to make it two wins from two in the Arnold Clark Cup and stay top of the table. The Italians did pose a scare to Wiegman's unbeaten run as manager when Sofia Cantore bundled in a cross which originally looked to have run out of play just after the hour.

But Daly, who has scored 10 goals in the WSL this season, hit back with her second after good work from Lauren James to ensure England kept up their flawless start to 2023. Daly was regularly used as a left-back during the Lionesses' run to glory at Euro 2022 but is now becoming a serious option as a central striker for her country.

When asked if Daly would only be used in this position going forward, Lionesses boss Wiegman refused to give much away but said the performances of those who came into the side guaranteed her some difficult decisions going forward.

"It (up front) is not a future position for her, because she is playing there for her club," Wiegman told ITV1 after the Italy win. "Sometimes she plays there with us, but we have so many options up front.

"We are just trying out all of the options that we think we have. We said before the tournament we wanted to try out some combinations in the team we hadn't seen.

Sarina Wiegman instructs her players during the Arnold Clark Cup match against Italy (Getty Images)

"We wanted to see lots of players. So many have players have played minutes now and we've seen lots of good things, so I'm happy with that. They want to give us headaches, they are giving us some headaches."

Daly took her chance, after Alessia Russo had played the opening game against South Korea, also scoring in the process. When later asked if she could see the two playing together, the England manager stated that it would be unlikely in the near future.

"I think they are both very good strikers," Wiegman said. "We all know that Rachel is very versatile and that is very good for our team.

"But we need to see options this week and just try them out. We have played out scenarios (in training) with two centre forwards but for now, with how we play, we wouldn't start with two at this moment.

"With the way we play now we are doing really well."

England weren't as dominant as they were against South Korea in their opening Arnold Clark Cup win, Wiegman having made nine changes to her starting line-up. But despite things getting nervy in the second half, the Dutch coach was pleased with the display.

"I'm very happy with this game," said Wiegman. "I think we played very well in the first half. In the second half, we had a period where we had a little hard time.

"At the end of the game were struggling to get out of their first press and I think we needed to play a little longer."

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