Sarina Wiegman gambles on fitness of Lionesses star as England boss names 23-player squad for European Championship defence

Sarina Wiegman has insisted that bringing Lauren James to this summer’s European Championships is ‘not a risk’ despite the forward not having played in two months.

The 23-year-old Lioness suffered a hamstring injury against Belgium in April and told Mail Sport last week that she is ‘doing everything I can’ to be fit in time for England’s title defence this summer.

Wiegman, who has included the forward in her 23-player squad that will travel to Switzerland, says that she ‘hopes’ James will be available for the first game of the tournament against France on July 5.

‘I don’t know for how many minutes yet, we need to see that. We still have a month. And we have that one friendly still against Jamaica (on June 29), I hope that she’ll make that one too.’

James burst on to the scene during the 2023 World Cup and is one of the Lionesses’ most exciting young talents, scoring seven times in her 27 appearances for the national team.

The England head coach added: ‘It’s not a risk. We have some time. We still have a month. She is training really well and is at the point we hoped she would be at this stage. Hopefully when she comes into camp she can keep progressing.’

Elsewhere, there was a surprising call-up for 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang. The Arsenal striker, who spent this season on loan at Brighton, has only made one appearance for the Lionesses – in a 3-2 defeat by Belgium last month.

The youngster came off the bench and scored 41 seconds into her debut, but had not played in England’s last two Nations League games before the squad announcement.

‘I think she brings something different,’ Wiegman said. ‘I think we are really strong up front. What she showed when necessary is the physicality. We all remember that first goal against Belgium.’

And there will be tournament debuts for seven players. Alongside Agyemang, they are Manchester United’s Maya Le Tissier and Grace Clinton, Manchester City’s Khiara Keating and Jess Park, Chelsea’s Aggie Beever-Jones, and Orlando Pride’s Anna Moorhouse.

The build-up to the announcement has been far from smooth sailing for the Dutch coach, with three players in Mary Earps, Millie Bright and Fran Kirby all withdrawing ahead of the reveal.

Goalkeeper Earps was the first to announce her shock retirement last week after falling behind Hannah Hampton in the race for the No 1 shirt in a move which reportedly angered the England head coach. Hampton is now the only capped goalkeeper in the squad.

Then, Kirby called time on her decorated 11-year career on Tuesday night. The 31-year-old Brighton forward had been told she wouldn’t make it into the squad unless someone got injured.

Finally, Bright made her announcement on Wednesday, saying that she was unable to ‘give 100 per cent mentally and physically’ if selected. The vice-captain, who wore the armband during the 2023 World Cup, added she felt it was not ‘fair to take the place’ of another player if they were ready to ‘give everything for the badge and country’.

Concerns of a crisis within Wiegman’s walls have been steadily growing, but the certainty of who has now been selected may help calm things down.

Wiegman alluded to that in her press conference, saying: ‘We expect noise until we go into the tournament. The difference is that the attention and visibility of the women’s game has increased so much, it seems like there is more noise but there’s just more journalists here.

‘Which is right. It shows what we are doing. That’s a lot more but we have to deal with it and move on. Which we have.’

England will play one final friendly match against Jamaica on June 29 before their opening group game against France six days after.