Man Utd captain misses out on England squad as Man City defender recalled

Manchester United and Manchester City will have a total of 12 players in the forthcoming England squad - but one big name has missed out.
A total of 12 Manchester based players have been called up to the England squad.A total of 12 Manchester based players have been called up to the England squad.
A total of 12 Manchester based players have been called up to the England squad.

Sarina Wiegman named a 25 strong Lionesses squad as she prepares for a double header against Brazil and Australia next month.

England will face South American champions in the inaugural Women’s Finalissima 2023 at a sold out Wembley on April 6 before taking on World Cup hosts Australia the following Tuesday with the games used as part of the preperations for the forthcoming Women’s World Cup in July.

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While the squad does include a total four Manchester United stars, there is disappointment for Red Devil’s skipper Katie Zelem who has failed to make the squad for next April’s game and now faces a fight to win back her place ahead of the summer tournament.

The announcement will be a blow to the United captain after she made the 28-player provisional squad for England’s successful Euro 2022 campaign last summer but was left heartbroken when she was not included in the final 23 to head to the tournament.

There was better news for Manchester City’s 22-year-old full back Esme Morgan though, with the versatile defender recalled to the England squad for the upcoming games after missing out on the Arnold Clark Cup squad in February. She will now hope to add further caps in April in order to convince Wiegman she should be on the plane to the World Cup in July.

On the squad announcement, Wiegman said: ““We are getting closer to the World Cup and I can’t think of two better games to assess our progress. After these games, there will be less than three months until we fly to the tournament and we must make every second on and off the pitch count.

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“For us as a technical staff this will be the last chance to see the players within our England environment before we come together for the final preparation phase in June. And these two matches will be two real tests to see where we are at.

In total, the England squad will include a total of 12 players from both Manchester clubs with Alex Greenwood, Alessia Russo, Ella Toone, Sandy MacIver, Ellie Roebuck, Mary Earps, Maya Le Tissier, Laura Coombs, Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp and Jess Park (currently on loan to Everton) joining Morgan in the 25-player squad.