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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jack Lacey-Hatton

Sarina Wiegman promises England changes against Belgium in admission over best XI

Sarina Wiegman has revealed fans can expect to see further changes to the England side for the Arnold Clark Cup finale against Belgium but that she is still searching for her best XI.

England can retain the trophy on Wednesday evening with a draw against the Belgians, with both sides on maximum points having won each of their two games against Italy and South Korea, although the Lionesses have a superior goal difference. Every England outfield player has received minutes on the pitch in the first two games, but with a trophy on the line, Wiegman is expected to play close to her strongest team.

England are 28 games unbeaten under Wiegman and the Dutchwoman insists she is happy to have so many tough selection decisions to make.

"The squad is good," she added. "Everyone was on the pitch this morning bar Emily (Ramsey) who has returned to her club. And you can expect some changes tomorrow compared to Sunday.

"We don't have to know the strongest XI at the moment. so far I am very happy. It's pretty normal that there will be changes in the team - players will retire and younger ones will compete. That's good competition. I think the depth in the squad is growing.

"What you see now is that it's really hard to make decisions. We have such a big group that are able to play at that stage (at the World Cup). We have more than 11 players who could start in the team.

"It's not that they're not good enough to start, it's just technical choices we make. We don't have to make that decision now."

Although Wiegman promised changes to the team, she kept her cards close to her chest and the battle for the number nine shirt. Rachel Daly scored twice against Italy but can also be deployed at left-back, while Alessia Russo staked her claim with a fine performance against South Korea in the opening game and also got on the scoresheet.

"It's actually really exciting," Wiegman added. "It is exciting, we have so many good number nines. And good strikers.

"The depth in the squad is growing, we have more than 23 who will be able to play at that stage. You can see where they are in this moment. In your team you want balance between experience and quality."

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