England head into their first games of 2025 with a number of injury absentees. Lauren Hemp won't be flying down the wing as the Lionesses' new Nations League campaign begins, while the intriguing experiment at left-back that involved Alex Greenwood can't resume either, after both underwent knee surgery before Christmas. Sarina Wiegma's biggest selection issue, however, concerns the midfield and the lack of options she has to replace Georgia Stanway.
The Bayern Munich star became the third England regular to go under the knife when she, too, had a knee problem operated on at the end of January. The club said Stanway will miss "several months" due to the procedure, which throws her participation in this summer's European Championship into some doubt, but more pressingly rules her out of the Lionesses' tough upcoming fixtures. England visit Portugal on Friday, host Spain next week and have a double-header in April against a Belgium team that upset them in the last Nations League campaign.
For all the depth at Wiegman's disposal in the Lionesses' squad in general, there is a real lack of it in Stanway's No.8 role. So, who are her options to fill in for this February international window, and perhaps beyond? GOAL takes a look at some of the candidates...
