The dreaming is nearly over. Ella Toone, a Manchester United player and fan, has bought the extra 24 tickets for family and friends and sustained the superb form to play her way into contention as one of Sarina Wiegman’s gamechangers. Now she just has to turn up at Old Trafford on Wednesday and, whether starting or coming on, do her thing. She will feel at home, after all.
England face Austria in the opening game of the biggest Women’s European Championship yet. The Tyldesley-born playmaker admits she fantasises about celebrating scoring with a knee slide in front of the Stretford End but now that the reality is approaching, the Lionesses having travelled from their Staffordshire training base to Manchester on Monday, Toone finds herself serenely living the moment.
