Leah Williamson: England captain ‘fit and ready’ for return

England defender Leah Williamson is “fit and ready” to make a return for the first time in a year in Friday’s Euro 2025 qualifier against Sweden, says manager Sarina Wiegman.

There were fresh knee injury concerns during Arsenal’s Continental Cup final win over Chelsea on Sunday.

“She is in a good place and is ready,” said Wiegman.

“We needed to manage her a little bit. She had a full training session yesterday and will be on the pitch again today (Thursday)

“That is really good. She is still building but she is in a good place – if she comes through today, of course.”

Asked whether Williamson will captain the side, Wiegman said: “If she plays, she’s the captain. We just want to get through this training session and see how she is and how the team is.”

There was a blow for Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating, who pulled out of the squad with a knee injury and has been replaced by Southampton’s Kayla Rendell – her first senior call-up.

All 23 available players trained at St George’s Park on Thursday and will travel to London to face Sweden at Wembley.

Before the match the Lionesses will wear training tops displaying their names in the British Sign Language, to help make football more accessible.

Members of the England women’s deaf football team – who finished third at the 2023 World Deaf Championships – will be presented to supporters at half-time.

Wiegman’s side have been drawn in a qualifying group with two of the world’s top six as they face France, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland, ranked third, sixth and 25th respectively.

The top two teams from the League A group will qualify automatically for next summer’s tournament, with the other two sides entering the play-offs.