Sarina Wiegman spoke positively about Lauren James’s chances of being fit enough to play at this summer’s European Championship, as she prepares to name her final squad of 23 players for the tournament on Thursday.
The Chelsea forward has been sidelined since sustaining a hamstring injury in April during a victory for England at home to Belgium at Ashton Gate, and her involvement in July’s Euros in Switzerland has been in doubt, but on Tuesday night Wiegman appeared more than optimistic.
“With LJ [James], she is of course on the pitch [training], she is still in the position that we expect her to be, so she’s progressing in the rehab and that’s going really well, so I’m positive about that.”
Wiegman also offered an encouraging update on the return to full fitness of England’s Bayern Munich midfielder Georgia Stanway, who made her first start in 2025 after recovering from a knee injury when she was in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s 2-1 loss against Spain. Stanway was withdrawn at half-time but Wiegman clarified that the 26-year-old had not suffered a setback, saying: On Stanway: “No [she does not have an injury], she’s in a very good place.
“But she hasn’t played for such a long time – Friday’s were her first minutes after she’d been training, of course. She could play [only for] 45 minutes. I think she wanted to play more, of course, she always wants to play more, she’s in such a good place, but I think this was very smart [to substitute her] to take care of her.”
Wiegman also paid tribute to Fran Kirby, after the Brighton forward’s sudden announcement of her retirement, adding: “First of all I love working with her [Kirby]. She has had an incredible career and it is still going on in the WSL. She’s an amazing player and an incredible person too.
“She did everything to make the squad. Fran and I have had several conversations. I had conversations with her over this week again, looking forward to this game and I said to her that she most likely would not make the squad, even though things could change quickly. We had these honest conversations.”
