England’s Lionesses have had to deal with their fair share of injuries lately. Knee surgeries for all of Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and Georgia Stanway have presented challenges for Sarina Wiegman and her side to overcome - with Greenwood and Stanway’s absences particularly problematic given the lack of depth at left-back and in central midfield. Alessia Russo’s withdrawal from this month’s squad, though, offers an undesirable glimpse into what would potentially be an even more concerning situation.
The Arsenal star impressed in Friday’s win over Belgium and was extremely unlucky not to get on the scoresheet after twice hitting the woodwork. Her movement was intelligent, her link-up play was brilliant and her hard work in the press helped the Lionesses consistently keep the pressure on in a 5-0 victory. However, an injury has forced Russo to pull out of the squad ahead of the rematch with Belgium on Tuesday, paving the way for a first senior call-up for talented teen Michelle Agyemang.
Agyemang joins Aggie Beever-Jones, Nikita Parris and Jess Naz as Wiegman’s options to lead the line in Leuven, something that Russo has done almost exclusively in recent times. Indeed, since the beginning of 2024, the 26-year-old has been England’s starting striker in 13 of their 15 games.
There is no news on the severity of Russo’s injury right now. Wiegman will hope that Tuesday is the only game Russo misses, with the Lionesses’ next fixtures not until late May and early June, and the Euros right around the corner from there. Still, this moment should serve as something of a wake-up call for England, whose contingency plan for any Russo absence is under-used, to say the least.