With less than five months to go until their European Championship title defence, England’s Lionesses have a fair few injury concerns. Flying winger Lauren Hemp had knee surgery in November and Alex Greenwood, her Manchester City team-mate, followed suit a month later. But arguably no absence creates greater worry right now than that of Georgia Stanway.
Part of that is because the Bayern Munich star only had her knee surgery at the end of January, giving her the least amount of time before the Euros to recover. But the main reason is because of England’s lack of depth in her box-to-box midfield role. While Sarina Wiegman has a whole host of attacking midfielders at her disposal, there are not many options for the other positions in the middle of the park, which Keira Walsh and Stanway have long held down.
Wiegman said this week she is “hopeful” that the latter will be ready for this summer’s tournament. “Georgia has a plan and she's really committed and very motivated to be back,” she added. However, it’s not just about July. England will begin their Women’s Nations League campaign next week, facing Portugal and then Spain, the world champions, in a competition that impacts qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Grace Clinton could provide the solution to that Stanway-shaped hole, as a player Wiegman has used there before and one who is seen as a potential asset in that position at club level, too. But the 21-year-old has issues of her own to overcome at Manchester United right now, having found herself on the bench for all of their last three Women’s Super League outings.
