Lauren Hemp knee surgery puts her among big names out of England squad | OneFootball

Lauren Hemp and Ella Toone have been ruled out of the England squad for back-to-back friendlies against the USA and Switzerland, with the former having undergone knee surgery.

Manchester City said Hemp would “return to the City Football Academy to work closely with the club’s medical team on her rehabilitation” after successful surgery. It is understood not to be a season-ending injury, and Sarina Wiegman confirmed it was not related to an anterior cruciate ligament, but no timescale has been put on her return.

The winger has been in fine form this season, creating 26 chances across seven WSL games, and is a big miss for Wiegman and Gareth Taylor.

Marc Skinner, Manchester United’s head coach, said Toone, who had made 96 consecutive WSL starts before Sunday, had picked up an injury in training last week.

“She’ll miss the international window, where we’ll keep assessing her, and then we’ll see whether she’s back for the block of three games after that, but I can only update you as of then,” he said.

Niamh Charles, Lauren James and Lucy Parker join Hemp and Toone on the England injury list. Leicester’s Ruby Mace, a defender or midfielder, and the Manchester City midfielder Laura Blindkilde Brown have received their first senior international call-ups as part of Wiegman’s 24-player squad for the friendlies.

England play the Emma Hayes-led USA on Saturday 30 November before welcoming the Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland to Bramall Lane the following Tuesday for their final fixtures of 2024.

Hayes is bringing 15 of the 22-player squad that secured Olympic gold in July but will be without potent the front three of Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, who have nagging injuries.

Wiegman said: “As we continue our preparations we want to test ourselves against the very best and that’s why we have carefully selected the USA and Switzerland. They are two opponents who will challenge us in different ways this window and that’s exactly what we want.

“The USA need no introductions and to play them at Wembley Stadium in front of a packed home crowd again is going to be very special. Under Emma they’ve reached a really top level.”

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