Lauren Hemp feels England are thriving under the pressure of entering their Euro 2025 qualifiers as first-time defending champions.

The Lionesses could only muster a 1-1 draw with Sweden to open their qualifying campaign on Friday night at Wembley, with the Republic of Ireland to come on Tuesday, then France to conclude the competition’s first window.

Friday marked the first meeting between England and Sweden since their semi-final at Euro 2022, when England triumphed 4-0 en route to the Wembley final and their first major tournament trophy.

Asked if having a bigger target on the Lionesses’ backs is to their benefit, Hemp replied: “Yes. It’s great for us. We are European champions, and we want to keep that, so it’s important for us to win as many games as possible and get ourselves back in and among it.

“It’s good to have people come up and be like, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got England’, that’s what we want to be. We want to be a hard-working team, hard to beat. I think it’s great having that.”

Friday’s stalemate was certainly a much more even encounter between World Cup runners-up England and last summer’s bronze medallists, with Peter Gerhardsson’s side at times looking like the stronger opponent, particularly towards the closing stages of the first half.

Alessia Russo nodded home a fine Lauren James delivery to put her side in front inside 24 minutes, but the Arsenal forward’s maiden Wembley goal was cancelled out by Fridolina Rolfo after the break and the Lionesses could not find a winner in a late-stage rally.

It might have even been worse for England, who breathed a sigh of relief when Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius – fresh off scoring last Sunday’s League Cup winner – squandered a golden chance for Sweden to take the lead earlier in the half.

In a new-look format, the top two sides in each of the four top-tier groups will directly book places at next summer’s European finals in Switzerland, while the remainder will be entered into a play-off round with teams from lower divisions.

On paper, the Lionesses’ group might be the toughest they have ever encountered in qualifying, but Hemp added: “I think for me I find it quite exciting. I want to play in tough games. I think as a group we’re so confident at the moment that we’re ready to take on anyone. We saw the group and my first thought was, ‘bring it on’. I think we are all like that.”

Arsenal midfielder Frida Maanum will not feature in Norway’s upcoming Euro 2025 qualifiers after collapsing in Sunday’s League Cup final win against Chelsea.

The 24-year-old collapsed off the ball in stoppage time and left the field on a stretcher before Arsenal clinched a 1-0 victory in extra-time.

The Gunners announced on Tuesday that Maanum was “doing well” and was being assessed by medical staff and on Wednesday added she will not be joining up with Norway’s squad.

A club statement read: “Frida Maanum will continue to be closely monitored by our medical team at Arsenal this week and will therefore not meet up with the Norwegian national team before their game on Friday.

“We are liaising closely with the Norwegian medical team. Frida is stable and doing well and we’ll share further updates as and when we receive them.”

Norway will launch their Euro qualifying campaign at home against Group A rivals Finland on Friday and play the Netherlands in Breda next Tuesday.

Sunday’s final at Molineux was halted for seven minutes as Maanum was treated by medics.

Arsenal later confirmed she did not lose consciousness and, after travelling back from Wolverhampton with the team, did not require hospital treatment.

Maanum was substituted before Stina Blackstenius’ 116th-minute goal saw Jonas Eidevall’s side lift the trophy for a second successive season.