The Lionesses are looking to end their year on a high with their final match of 2025 tomorrow at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton. They welcome Ghana to their home turf after Saturday’s emphatic 8–0 win over China at Wembley Stadium in front of 75,000 fans.
Sarina Wiegman and Aggie Beever-Jones held a pre-match press conference this morning at St Mary’s, where they discussed injury updates, tactical insights, and captaincy.
Wiegman opened with an injury update, confirming that Grace Fisk has returned to her home club, Liverpool, ahead of tomorrow’s match after sustaining a calf injury. She added that we can expect to see her “manage minutes”; however, her priority remains the fact that there are only “eight more games to the World Cup,” meaning there is limited opportunity to rotate and give players rest.
Wiegman also reflected on a full-circle moment, recalling her first ever match in charge of the Lionesses, which was also held at St Mary’s back in 2021. “Time flies!” she said. “It was a nice start to England; it’s nice to be back.”
Aggie Beever-Jones was next to speak. When asked about being a top goalscorer for club and country, she said, “It’s about the team and helping the team where I can,” emphasising that scoring goals is not her main priority and that, with the team performing well, “everything will fall into place.” She added that “playing for England is one of the greatest honours” and that “every player wants to play for England and wants to take the opportunity.”
Recent camps have seen several fresh faces, including Lucia Kendall and Freya Godfrey. When asked about Kendall, Wiegman said, “I think she’s doing really well. It’s gone fast how she’s developed—going to Aston Villa and competing really well. That’s why we selected her.” On how well younger players integrate into the senior squad, she explained that the Under-20s have a similar setup in terms of routines and standards, so they “have to meet standards and step up and show the levels,” which helps ease their transition.
England’s 8–0 win against China saw multiple players wear the captain’s armband due to rotation. Asked about Alessia Russo’s ability to lead the team, Wiegman responded, “We have a lot of leaders in the group—different characters who lead in different ways. Alessia has stepped up, and she’s one of the more experienced players in the group now. She’s taken on the role really well.” While England are not considering a permanent change in captaincy, she added, “It says enough that she wore the armband and she’s stepping up, which I really appreciate”—a positive sign for the future leadership group.
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s match, Wiegman noted that Ghana will provide a more difficult challenge, describing them as having a “clear structure on how they want to play.” She added, “I don’t think it will be that easy. I hope we make it easy by playing well, but we’ll see what happens.” She made it clear that the squad’s ambitions remain the same as they were against China and that they hope to start the game in a similar manner.
To conclude the press conference, Wiegman discussed the decision to bring Ellie Roebuck back into the squad, explaining that she wanted an “experienced goalkeeper” in camp after Khiara Keating returned to her club for rehabilitation following injury. “It’s nice to have her,” Wiegman said. “She has had one training session and she looked very good.” With Wiegman speaking about potential squad rotation, could Roebuck make her England return against Ghana? It certainly seems possible.
