Nobbs to miss Euros but Houghton and Kirby in provisional England squad
The Arsenal midfielder Jordan Nobbs will miss the home Euros with a knee injury after being omitted from the 28strong provisional England squad for the tournament, which kicks off in 50 days’ time.
Nobbs competed at the 2017 Euros but has suffered major tournament heartbreak before, having missed the 2019 Women’s World Cup because of an ACL injury and playing only one match at the 2015 edition in Canada because of an injury.
The former captain Steph Houghton is included in Sarina Wiegman’s provisional squad despite not having featured for Manchester City since 23 January. Houghton, Fran Kirby and Jill Scott face a race to prove their fitness after time out with injury or illness.
Everton’s goalkeeper, Sandy MacIver, Manchester United’s Lucy Staniforth and Manchester City’s Chloe Kelly return after being absent from recent camps primarily because of injuries.
“We have a settled squad and I know we have players in our team that will give everything to make it a summer to remember,” said Wiegman. “It is important that the players have the chance to get some rest now after a very busy season before we get back to our work. We then have a series of prep camps coming up and it is important we use this time to build an even closer connection on and off the pitch.
“We also look forward to welcoming those who have been working individually and with their clubs on their fitness in the past few weeks.”
Wiegman will reduce the final squad to 23 in mid-June with the deadline being 10.59pm (BST) on 26 June. Teams will be able to make unlimited replacements before their first match in the event of serious injury or illness, which includes testing positive for Covid-19 or coming into contact with a positive case.
England play three pre-tournament friendlies. After facing Belgium at Molineux on 16 June, they take on the Netherlands, the reigning European champions, at Elland Road on 24 June before heading to Zurich to play Switzerland on 30 June.
The Lionesses kick-off the Euros at a sold-out Old Trafford on 6 July against Austria.