Craig Lidster has called on the services of Arc-winning rider Cristian Demuro as Land Lover forms part of a three-pronged Nick Bradley Racing assault on the British EBF 40th Anniversary Woodcote Stakes.

Demuro – who is Italian but primarily rides in France – is making the trip to Epsom to partner Heartache Tonight for David Menuisier in the Betfred Oaks and will get the chance for a sighter of the Surrey Downs aboard Lidster’s Land Force colt, who caught the eye when fourth in a competitive maiden at York on debut.

Land Lover now steps up in trip to six furlongs – a distance the Yorkshire handler believes will suit his charge – as he joins Amy Murphy’s Ripon runner-up Fifty Grand Slater and Kevin Philippart De Foy’s Maymay representing the Nick Bradley Racing syndicate that won this contest with Oscula two years ago.

“He ran a good race at York in what looked a nice novice,” said Lidster.

“Take nothing away from him, but he wasn’t as fit as I would have liked that day and he has come on from that run. We’re pretty sweet on him.

“It’s giving the owners a nice day out and what will be will be, but I think six furlongs will suit. He was never a five-furlong horse in our eyes, but York is just down the road and he needed the run. So we put him in that nice race to see what would happen and to be fair to him, he came up trumps and finished a nice fourth.

“That paved the way for thinking this horse could be above average and Nick Bradley thought while everyone is thinking of Ascot why don’t we think Woodcote.”

On the booking of Demuro he added: “Nick said he rides a lot for him in France and was coming over for the meeting and asked if he could book him. Sam James has had to reroute up to Carlisle otherwise it would have been his ride.”

It could prove to be a red-letter weekend for Lidster if his venture south proves successful and 24 hours after Land Lover’s run in the Woodcote, he could saddle Dickieburd in the inaugural Aston Martin 3YO “Dash'” Handicap.

A maximum of 14 will go to post for the five-furlong contest and Lidster is left sweating ahead of declarations with his three-year-old on the cusp of making the final line-up.

“I think it’s the best decision all year to put in a race like that and we’ve put our apprentice on to take the 7lb off,” he continued.

“He’s in great order at home and we’re going there with the hope that we might get in.

“If we do we’ll need the luck of the draw, but he’s a very fast horse and a front-runner and we know Epsom is the fastest five furlongs in the world and a front-runners track so hopefully it will play to his strengths a little bit.”

Adam Legzdins is looking for newly promoted Dundee to become an established cinch Premiership club after signing a new deal which commits him to the Dark Blues until the summer of 2025.

The 36-year-old goalkeeper joined from Burnley in November 2020, and helped the Tayside club to the top flight via the play-offs in 2021.

After dropping back down to the Championship, Dundee won the title this season and will return to the Premiership and Legzdins wants the Dens Park club to stay at the top long-term.

He told Dundee’s official website: “I really am delighted to extend my contract with this fantastic club for another two years.

“Dundee FC is a massive team in Scottish football steeped in history and tradition which you feel every time you represent the Dark Blues.

“My family and I have lived in Dundee and the surrounding area for the last two and half years and we feel so lucky to have found a wonderful place we now call home.

“The people of the city and the fans of our great club have been fantastic with us and I promise them I will continue to be committed and give my all both on and off the pitch to help us accomplish what we want to in the future.

“Last season really was a fantastic achievement by everyone at the club. We made memories that will last a lifetime.

“I will never forget the support from our travelling fans at Ochilview on the final day of the season to the outstanding reception we received at City Square.

“Seeing the next generation of young fans having their pictures taken with the trophy really showed me how lucky we are as players to play for this great club.

“It is now time for us all to work even harder to establish ourselves as a team in the Scottish Premiership for years to come.

“There are some great people at this club who will work tirelessly in pursuit of this goal.

“I want to help them, my team-mates, and the fans whenever I can to bring even more good times to Dundee FC.”

England boss Sarina Wiegman has finalised her squad for this summer’s World Cup finals as she targets another taste of glory.

The European champions have lost key players since their triumph at Wembley last year, but have potential new stars waiting in the wings.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the challenges which lie ahead in Australia and New Zealand.

How does Wiegman plug the holes at the back?

The anterior cruciate ligament injury which has ruled skipper Leah Williamson out of the tournament not only robs England of their captain, but also of a key defender. Millie Bright’s inclusion – Wiegman has confirmed the Chelsea star will wear the armband – has allayed fears over her fitness, with both she and full-back Lucy Bronze, who is also included, nursing knee problems. Left-back Alex Greenwood is a candidate to partner Bright in the middle, but Rachel Daly’s inclusion among the strikers suggests she will not be asked to play at full-back as she has done for her country in the past.

Who are England’s potential match-winners?

The absence of Euro 2022 Golden Boot winner Beth Mead and Fran Kirby through injury and retired record goalscorer Ellen White might be felt more acutely if Wiegman did not have a wealth of attacking talent at her disposal. Ella Toone, Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo proved game-changers from the bench last summer and will target more significant roles this time around, while Rachel Daly will head for the finals having scored 22 goals for Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League this season and the recalled Bethany England has 12 to her name since joining Tottenham from Chelsea in January. In addition, the Lionesses can also call upon emerging talents Lauren James and Katie Robinson.

Who are England’s main rivals?

Holders the United States are looking to lift the trophy for a third successive tournament – a fifth in total – and FIFA’s number one-ranked team will be hot favourites to do so. England beat the USA 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley in October last year but will not be taken in by that success. Germany, who lost to Wiegman’s side in the Euro 2022 final, will also be expected to feature prominently, as will semi-final opponents Sweden. Olympic champions Canada, whose campaign for equal pay prompted calls for a strike earlier this year, and co-hosts Australia, who will have Chelsea goal-machine Sam Kerr in their ranks, could have a say too.

What kind of form are they in?

England’s form had been little short of exemplary until April’s 2-0 friendly defeat by Australia at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium brought their 30-game unbeaten run under Wiegman to an end. However, there is a feeling within the camp that the run was always going to end eventually and it is far better that it did so in a friendly. The accuracy of that view will only become apparent when they embark upon their Group D fixtures against Haiti, Denmark and China.

Can a depleted squad live up to the expectation they have created?

England will head to the tournament having made it to the semi-finals at the last two World Cups, but not managed to go a step further. They cleared a major psychological hurdle last summer when they won the Euros on home soil having negotiated a tense last-eight clash with Spain and nerve-jangling showdown with Germany in the final and will travel Down Under with that vital tournament experience under their belts and confident of making an impression once again.

Willian believes the Brazil national team are in a transition period as they look to appoint a new coach.

Brazil have not yet appointed a permanent successor to Tite, who left after the Selecao were knocked out of the 2022 World Cup by Croatia in the quarter-finals.

Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly wanted by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

Brazil will play friendlies against Guinea and Senegal in June, with interim coach Ramon Menezes naming a strong squad, and Willian, who was part of the Selecao's squad for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, feels that the national team is also in need of a fresh injection of talent into the squad.

"In 2018 we were very confident that we could reach the final and win the title," he told Stats Perform.

"This time, I thought Brazil were a strong candidate to reach the final and win the World Cup, but that didn't work out either.

"So it's hard to tell if it [a sixth World Cup win] is far away or if is close. I think now Brazil are in a transition process, waiting for a coach and also a change in the players.

"But Brazil's national team will always enter any competition to win. It is the team with the most World Cup titles, so it will always enter the World Cup or any other competition to win."

 

Asked who he thinks should be the next coach of Brazil, Willian said: "It's hard to give an opinion because a lot of people say it should be a foreigner, and a lot of people say it should be Brazilian.

"I think it has to be a manager that helps the team, regardless of being Brazilian or foreign. But one that will help the team to reach the main objective which is to be able to be champion of the World Cup."

When it was put to him that it would be easier if a Brazil coach spoke Portuguese, Willian replied: "I think so, but it depends. When you're on the pitch, the language of football is universal.

"I think it helps to speak the same language, but it's not a question that makes any difference in the end.

"The important thing is to have a coach who knows how to manage the group, who knows how to talk to each player, do the work on the pitch and has the human part too, which is very important in football today.

"Regardless of whether the coach speaks the same language or not, the most important thing is that he knows how to deal with the players."

Rory McIlroy has reiterated his opposition to LIV Golf players being allowed to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup.

World number two Jon Rahm believes the likes of Sergio Garcia, with whom he formed a successful partnership in 2021, should be able to compete in Rome and said he was sad that “politics have gotten in the way” of the biennial event.

Garcia is the leading points scorer in Ryder Cup history, but made himself ineligible by resigning from the DP World Tour in the wake of increased sanctions being imposed for playing LIV Golf events without permission.

American players remain eligible despite being banned or resigning from the PGA Tour in the wake of joining the Saudi-funded circuit, with Brooks Koepka set to qualify automatically following his victory in the US PGA Championship.

“I certainly think Brooks deserves to be on the United States team,” McIlroy said in his pre-tournament presser ahead of the Memorial Tournament.

“I think with how he’s played, I mean, he’s second in the US standings, (having) only played two counting events.

“I don’t know if there’s anyone else on the LIV roster that would make the team on merit and how they’re playing. But Brooks is definitely a guy that I think deserves to be on the US team.

“But I have different feelings about the European team and the other side and sort of how that has all transpired and, yeah, I don’t think any of those guys should be a part of the European team.”

McIlroy finished in a tie for seventh behind Koepka at Oak Hill, despite struggling with his long game, but the lack of faith in his “biggest weapon” may not prove as much of an issue at Muirfield Village.

“I can’t remember a time where I felt so uncomfortable over the ball for four days,” McIlroy said.

“The golf course allowed me to manage it. There was only two holes I felt at Oak Hill that really penalised big misses, which was six and seven. So you take those two holes out of it and it was what I would describe as a bogey golf course.

“It was very hard to make anything worse than a bogey. So you hit it in the rough off the tee, you got these openings into greens, you can run it up into the openings, make your par and move on.

“I needed to go back home and work on some things and, yeah, feeling a lot better about it, not fighting the club face quite as much. Feel a little bit more free, which is obviously a nice feeling.

“I think the one thing here, if you look at the recent winners, maybe apart from Jon (Rahm), they have all been sort of like medium-length hitters.

“I only hit four or five drivers on this golf course so it takes the driver out of my hands a lot. A lot of fairways bottleneck at like 330, 340 (yards) so the biggest weapon in my bag isn’t quite the weapon that it is at some other golf courses.

“I have played okay here and had some decent finishes, but I guess it sort of surprises me with the four par fives and the way the golf course sets up that I haven’t at least had a real chance to win here.”

England boss Sarina Wiegman says she was not prepared to take the risks with Beth Mead’s fitness after leaving her out of her squad for this summer’s World Cup.

Mead, who claimed the Golden Boot and player of the tournament award when the Lionesses won the Euros last summer, misses out after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in November.

Asked if there was ever a chance the Arsenal winger could have been in the squad, Wiegman told a press conference: “No, I don’t think so.

“Beth is so positive and she’s going really well, but we said the time schedule she had, we would have taken so many risks to try to get her to the World Cup.

“Very early we said we’re not going to take that risk, I’m not willing to take that risk, to push her too much and then she gets injured again. We have to take care of players and do what’s smart, and not do what’s a little bit naive.”

There is a recall for in-form Bethany England, back involved for the first time since last September.

The forward has scored 12 Women’s Super League goals for Tottenham after joining from Chelsea in January, and Wiegman said: “She was at Chelsea, she didn’t get the minutes.

“Then she made a move and started playing. Tottenham was having a hard time, but how she performed and how much resilience she showed – I think that’s what made us make the decision to get her in the squad.”

Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze, also sidelined of late, do feature in a 23-player list from which skipper Leah Williamson and Fran Kirby had already been ruled out due to injury.

Wiegman confirmed Bright is set to captain the side, and regarding her and Bronze’s recoveries from knee surgery, she said: “Lucy is fit and fully in training, and Millie is in a good place, so we’re positive.

“She’s still building but we have some time. We need to build a little more but it looks good.”

On Williamson’s absence after suffering an ACL injury of her own in April, Wiegman said: “Of course, most of all for her it’s very disappointing and sad, and that’s the same for Fran and for Beth Mead.

“But you have to move on too. This is unfortunately part of top sports, that you can get injured. You hope to make that risk as small as possible but it can happen and someone else steps up and it gives an opportunity.”

Jordan Nobbs is included despite sustaining an injury in Aston Villa’s penultimate game of the season, Katie Zelem has been brought back after not making the last squad in April, and there is no recall for Williamson’s predecessor as captain Steph Houghton.

Jess Park, Maya Le Tissier – who Wiegman said was “really close” to making the 23 – and Emily Ramsey have been named on standby.

Wiegman said there had been “hard decisions” and that while some players were missing through injury, she still feels “we have a very good squad, very good depth in the squad.”

England get their campaign at the tournament in Australia and New Zealand under way by facing Haiti in Brisbane on July 22, and will also take on Denmark and China in Group D.

Wiegman was also asked about the diversity of the squad in terms of there being 22 white players out of 23, and said: “Of course I understand that people look at it like that, and I really hope that will change, but that won’t change overnight.

“I know the FA is doing lots of things, with ‘Discover My Talent’, ‘Let Girls Play’, to get everyone who wants to play football, whatever background you have, or wherever you come from, that you have access to it.

“I think what our players did after the Euros, (asking to) have access in schools, which now had a big result, hopefully that brings more girls with different backgrounds into the game, so in the future we have more players from different backgrounds in the national team too. But for now I think that takes a little more time.”

France’s great home hope, Caroline Garcia, was bundled out of Roland Garros in the second round after a dramatic encounter with Russian Anna Blinkova.

As the fifth seed, Garcia is by a distance the top-ranked French player in either the men’s or women’s singles but the country’s wait for a new grand slam champion goes on.

Blinkova, ranked 56, had never beaten a top-five player before but battled back from a set down to triumph 4-6 6-3 7-5, finally taking her ninth match point.

Nerves were clearly affecting the 24-year-old, who served for the match twice, while the partisan Philippe Chatrier crowd were willing Garcia on, but Blinkova did not let the opportunity for the biggest win of her life slip away.

Former world number three Elina Svitolina continued to impress in her comeback grand slam, taking inspiration from husband Gael Monfils as she saw off Australian Storm Hunter 3-6 6-3 6-1.

Less than 11 hours after completing an emotional five-set win over Sebastian Baez, Monfils was back at Roland Garros cheering on Svitolina.

“I watched him, but not live, I was screaming in my room,” said the Ukrainian. “It was an unbelievable match. I don’t know what he is doing here now, I think he should be resting, but I’m really thankful for him coming to support me, especially in this tough match.”

Svitolina is playing her first slam in more than a year following the birth of baby Skai last October.

The new mother and father are juggling the day job with childcare, and Svitolina said: “It’s the first tournament for us where we are both playing at the same tournament, and Skai is here with us in Paris as well. It’s really, really special.

“So far everything is going well and we really enjoy our time off the court together and on the court we try to be focused and play as good as we can.”

Svitolina is also having to put to one side thoughts of the troubles in her homeland and is using the situation to inspire her on court.

She said: “When I step on the court, I just try to think about the fighting spirit that all of us Ukrainians have and how Ukrainians are fighting for their values, for their freedom in Ukraine. And me, I’m fighting here on my own frontline.

“I cannot be sad. I cannot be distracted in some ways. I’m just going to lose. I have a flag next to my name so I’m fighting for my country, and I’m going to do that each time I step on the court.”

Third seed Jessica Pegula had an untaxing afternoon, taking the first set 6-2 against Camila Giorgi before the Italian pulled out.

Ninth seed Daria Kasatkina produced the shot of the tournament so far, a fizzing tweener winner, in a 6-3 6-4 victory over former finalist Marketa Vondrousova, while 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko lost out 6-3 1-6 6-2 to American Peyton Stearns.

Caolan Boyd-Munce has agreed a one-year contract extension with St Mirren, who have confirmed star striker Curtis Main, Charles Dunne, Joe Shaughnessy and Richard Tait will all move on.

The 23-year-old midfielder joined Saints in March on a deal until the end of the season and the club has taken up the option to extend that until the summer of 2024 with an appearance-based option for another year.

The Northern Irishman – who began his career at Glentoran and had spells at Birmingham and Middlesbrough – made three appearances for the Buddies last season with his first start coming in Saturday’s match against Rangers at The SMiSA Stadium.

Manager Stephen Robinson told stmirren.com: “Caolan was never going to come into the first team fold straight away because he hadn’t played for a long time.

“What we could see three months ago, he is now starting to achieve. Sometimes, that gamble is worthwhile.

“He’s different from what we have. He will find passes and put people through on goal as he gets fitter and stronger.

“We believe that come August/September, he has a real chance of starting games for us and pushing on. There’s so much more to come from him.”

“The option for a different type of midfielder who is similar to an Ethan Erhahon (who left for Lincoln in January) makes us stronger as a squad.”

Robinson, who has 20 players under contract for next season, did not expect 31-year-old striker Main, a key player since joining from Shrewsbury two years ago, to extend his time in Paisley.

The former Morecambe and Motherwell manager will also have to bolster his defence this summer.

Club captain, Shaughnessy, 30, joined the Buddies from Southend in 2020 and was out of the team earlier in the season.

Fellow centre-back Dunne, 30, arrived from Motherwell two years ago while full-back Tait, 33, also signed from the Steelmen in 2020.

In a general squad update, the Buddies website said: “Offers were made to Charles Dunne, Curtis Main and captain Joe Shaughnessy, but all three have decided that their futures lie elsewhere.

“With over 250 combined appearances between them, we thank them immensely for their respective contributions to St Mirren and wish them the very best in their new challenges.

“Richard Tait also departs after almost three years at the club where he made 87 appearances and scored three goals. We sincerely thank Richard for his contributions and wish him the very best in whatever comes next.

“Tony Watt and Thierry Small have returned to their parent clubs, Dundee United and Southampton, respectively. We thank them for their time at St Mirren and wish them all the best for their future.

“An offer to Youth Academy graduate Jay Henderson remains on the table.”

Jack McMillan dropped down a division when he signed for Partick Thistle to get more game time and become a better player, but his goal was always to put that improvement to use back in Scotland’s top flight.

The 25-year-old has already achieved the first part of the plan he made when he left Livingston last summer, his performances in the cinch Premiership play-offs so far being evidence of that.

The right-back has scored three of Thistle’s 16 goals in their four matches to date, the latest a header against Ayr in his 50th appearance of the season.

This week he gets the chance to complete the other half of his target when Thistle take on Ross County for a place in the top division.

McMillan said: “I enjoyed my four years at Livingston, it was a great time, but my reason for leaving was to get more game time and play regularly.

“I have managed to do that this season – this will be my 51st start in a row.

“But I would like to get back up to the top division and continue to learn and improve.

“I feel I have improved massively. You can only improve from the games that you play and to play 50 this year is incredible. Touch wood, I have not had any niggles or injuries so far.

“I have hit numbers attacking-wise, I set targets and I have exceeded them.”

McMillan’s move was the second time he went one step back to go two steps forward, having left Motherwell in January 2018 after playing 16 games for the Lanarkshire club.

He was quickly back in the Premiership after helping Livi to play-off success which relegated Thistle in the process, and he sees major similarities in the situation he finds himself now.

“In my time at Livingston, the group were very, very tight,” he said. “You probably saw that on the park. It’s very similar traits to this dressing room as well.

“When we came up with Livingston, we would have beaten anybody. It was that kind of mood that we were in. We had a great season. We were tipped for relegation that season so to go up through the play-offs was massive.”

Thistle have lost just once in 17 matches since Kris Doolan took over as manager three months ago.

McMillan said: “The momentum has been there for a while, maybe since the new manager came in.

“He has tweaked a few things, especially formation, and that has helped the players, especially the two full-backs, myself and Holty (Kevin Holt). It has helped us go forward and play that free-flowing football that we have been doing.”

Diogo Dalot says everyone at Manchester United feels like they are “at the start of a special journey” after signing a new deal until at least 2028.

The 24-year-old right-back joined from Porto in 2018 and has gone on to make 107 appearances in all competitions for the club.

Dalot, who spent the 2020-21 season on loan at AC Milan, has now signed new terms at Old Trafford for the next five years, with the option of a further season.

“Playing for Manchester United is one of the highest honours that you can have in football,” the 11-cap Portugal international said.

“We have shared some fantastic moments over the past five years and I’ve grown so much and my passion for this incredible club has only increased since the day that I joined.

“As a group of players, we all feel like we are at the start of a special journey right now.

“I can assure you that I will dedicate myself relentlessly to helping this group to achieve our aims and make the fans proud of this team.

“That drive continues this week with everyone intensely focused on preparations for the FA Cup final.”

Dalot began the season superbly under Erik ten Hag, but much-improved Aaron Wan-Bissaka may get the nod to start Saturday’s FA Cup final at right-back.

 

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Irrespective of his role against Manchester City this weekend, United football director John Murtough is delighted by the strides the full-back has made.

“Diogo is an excellent defender, with a great combination of pace, strength and versatility,” he said. “He has consistently developed, improving year-on-year since joining the club in 2018.

“Diogo’s work ethic and professionalism is superb; the way in which he prepares himself every day in order to perform at his highest level is exactly what we all want from a Manchester United player.

“Diogo has a strong mentality, high standards and a great personality, and we are delighted that he will remain an important member of the squad for the coming years.”

Any delay to the Betfred Derby caused by protesters would be a “big negative” for everybody involved, according to Aidan O’Brien.

The animal rights group Animal Rising has made no secret of its intention to cause as much disruption as possible at Epsom on Saturday.

Some of its members made it on to the track at Aintree before the Grand National, causing around a 10-minute delay, but while there was an attempt to repeat that at Ayr and the Scottish National the following weekend it was quickly thwarted by police and security staff.

The Jockey Club, which owns Epsom and Aintree, among other courses, has admitted it may well be harder to prevent the protestors from gaining access to the track this weekend due to the public areas around Epsom.

However, it was granted a High Court injunction last week which means those that do attempt to enter the track itself or other prohibited areas could be subject to proceedings for contempt of court, which may lead to a fine and/or imprisonment.

In the National, Hill Sixteen suffered a fatal fall at the first fence, with trainer Sandy Thomson adamant afterwards the delay caused by what he called “ignorant” protesters had been a contributing factor.

“It’s out of our control,” said O’Brien.

“Any delay would be a big negative. Things happen every day to test us all and you just have to make the best of a situation whichever way it has fallen and it will be the same for everybody, that’s all any of us can do really.

“Obviously it is not ideal for anybody (if there is a delay). The horses, the people involved, everybody.

“Hopefully everybody will see sense and it won’t be like that, but all any of us can do is our best and hopefully everybody will see sense and look at the welfare of the animals and people and everybody first.”

O’Brien appears to have finalised his Derby plans, with Adelaide River and Chester winner San Antonio getting the go-ahead to join favourite Auguste Rodin.

O’Brien usually flies his runners in on Derby day, but has been forced to rethink with the race moved to a 1.30pm start time to avoid a clash with the FA Cup final.

“I think we’re going to run three, Auguste Rodin, Adelaide River and San Antonio at the moment,” he said.

“They all came out of their last races well, the two from Chester seem fine and Auguste Rodin seems fine.

“They are leaving Ballydoyle on Thursday afternoon, I think that’s the plan. We usually travel on the day, but with the early start we couldn’t take that risk.

“We don’t have any choice other than to take them earlier this year, we think it’s the sensible thing to do and the responsible thing to do.

“The fillies’ race (Oaks on Friday) is not as early as the colts, but we’re sending them early so they are doing the same route as the colts.

“We just think it’s the responsible thing to do for everybody involved and we’ll see what happens.”

England manager Sarina Wiegman has named her squad for this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Sixteen of the 23-player contingent were part of the team that won Euro 2022, but there are some notable absentees through injury, form or retirement.

Here, the PA news agency compares the two squads.

Experience

Wiegman’s World Cup squad is far less experienced than her Euro 2022 selection, with a total of 733 caps at an average of 32 per player compared with 973 – 42 per player – among their predecessors.

Six players have fewer than 10 caps, compared with only four of last year’s contingent, while another half-dozen have amassed at least 50 caps – versus nine of the Euros squad.

Four of the five most-capped players who featured at Euro 2022 – Jill Scott (157), Ellen White (107), Demi Stokes (67) and Nikita Parris (65) – have retired or been overlooked this time, with Lucy Bronze (104) now leading the way ahead of Alex Greenwood (74).

Captain Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby are also absent through injury, while – of the seven new faces – only Jordan Nobbs (71) has more than 10 caps to her name.

As a result of the influx of new players, the average age of England’s squad has fallen slightly since the Euros, from 26.9 to 26.4.

Brighton’s 20-year-old winger Katie Robinson is the youngest player to be selected, ahead of Chelsea’s Lauren James (21).

Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs is the oldest at the age of 32.

Goals

The Lionesses are not at full strength in attack, with those going to the World Cup having scored a combined 114 goals at international level compared with their predecessors’ 202.

Season-ending injuries to Mead and Kirby, as well as White’s retirement, have limited Wiegman’s options in forward areas.

Manchester United duo Ella Toone and Alessia Russo – who starred as substitutes in the last tournament – are likely to feature from the start in Australia and New Zealand, while Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly – who top scored in the Women’s Super League having switched from her previous full-back position – provides another option up front.

However, there remains a shortfall elsewhere in the squad, with seven outfield players having never scored for England compared with just two of the side that won the Euros.

The absence of key attackers has led to a decline in England’s scoring output since Euro 2022. The Lionesses have netted 32 goals in their last 11 matches at an average of 2.91 per game, as opposed to 106 in their first 20 outings under Wiegman at a rate 5.30 per game.

Club representation

There are nine clubs represented in England’s World Cup squad, compared with only six at Euro 2022.

Manchester City have provided six players, down from 10 last time but still the most of any club ahead of WSL champions Chelsea and runners-up Manchester United on four apiece.

Meanwhile, Arsenal – the other team involved in this season’s thrilling title race – have only one representative in Lotte Wubben-Moy.

The rest of the squad is made up of three players from Aston Villa, two from Barcelona and one from Bayern Munich, Brighton and Tottenham.

David Wotherspoon has expressed his gratitude to those who helped him achieve “10 magnificent years” at hometown club St Johnstone.

The 33-year-old midfielder joined Saints from Hibernian in 2013, helped the Perth club win the Scottish Cup for the first time in 2014 and was part of the side which remarkably won the Scottish Cup and League Cup double in 2021.

St Johnstone confirmed on Tuesday that the Canada international is one of 14 players who will be leaving this summer as new manager Steven MacLean revamps his squad.

Wotherspoon posted on Twitter: “After 10 magnificent years, playing at the club I grew up supporting, my time has come to an end.

“The memories created throughout my time at St Johnstone have been incredible and will never be forgotten.

“Firstly I’d like to thank the players I have had the pleasure of sharing a dressing room with. Such a great group of lads who have supported and shown me great friendships.

“To the managers I have had the pleasure of working under and had so much success with. Thank you for giving me the chance to play for the team I love!

“To the backroom staff and other staff members that work in the club that have helped me out over the years. I am truly grateful for everything you have done for me.

“A big thank you and love to my wife and kids for their support over the 10 years, it’s been so hard on them but they were always there for me through the highs and the lows.”

Bethany England has been included in Sarina Wiegman’s England squad for this summer’s World Cup, while Beth Mead misses out.

Striker England, who has not been involved for her country since last September, is recalled after scoring 12 Women’s Super League goals for Tottenham since joining them from Chelsea in January.

But there is no return for Euro 2022 Golden Boot winner and player of the tournament Mead, having lost her battle against time after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in November.

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