Chelsea playmaker Fran Kirby has been named in the England squad for their Women’s Nations League matches against Belgium this month, but there is no place for Arsenal’s Beth Mead.
Both players have been recovering from knee injuries that forced them to miss this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Kirby injured her knee in February and she has made three appearances for Chelsea, impressing in their win over West Ham at the weekend.
Mead, however, ruptured the ACL in her knee in November of last year and only returned to action last weekend, playing 14 minutes for Arsenal as she came off the bench to set up the winner in a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
The forward expressed a desire to return to England action in the wake of that, but added she would hold talks with head coach Sarina Wiegman about what was best as she works back to full fitness.
Mead’s Arsenal team-mate, Vivianne Miedema, is back in the Netherlands squad for their games this month after injuring her knee last December. She is yet to play for Arsenal this season.
Wiegman has named a 25-player squad for England’s Nations League double header against Belgium later this month.
Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton, who is on loan at Tottenham, and Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating have earned their first call-ups to the senior squad after strong starts to the season.
Barcelona midfielder Keira Walsh is also back in the squad after missing last month’s games against Scotland and the Netherlands due to a calf injury.
England will host Belgium at Leicester’s King Power Stadium on Friday 27 October before travelling to Leuven four days later.
Wiegman said: “It’s good for us to be back together. Obviously we had a good start with the win against Scotland. However, the outcome of our last fixture against the Netherlands was disappointing.
“We will be fully focused to perform well twice against tough opposition. Belgium’s results in the Nations League show they are talented side who can cause teams problems, so we will need to be at our best to get the results we’re looking for.
“The group is wide open, so every game is crucial. The squad have shown their ability to respond to setbacks and I’m sure this will be no different.“We look forward to meeting up at St George’s Park next Monday and putting in the time to make sure we’re fully prepared and ready to go twice in quick succession.
“Again we feel very fortunate to be playing in front of a sell-out crowd. The support we are receiving from all corners of the country is amazing, it isn’t something we’ll ever take for granted and it really gives us that extra lift. Hopefully we can give them another night to remember.”
