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Sampson names squad for Sweden friendly

by Michelle Jones

England Women’s manager Mark Sampson has named a strong squad of 32 players for next month’s friendly against Sweden in Hartlepool.

England will host the Swedes on August 3 and then 18 days later they travel to the Cardiff City stadium to take on Wales, knowing a point will be enough to qualify for the World Cup held in Canada next year.

England’s last qualifier was a 2-1 victory over Ukraine last month which kept their 100 per cent record in the group stages.

The friendly will be a way of bringing the squad together before the vital qualifier against Wales and the manager is pleased to have a number of his players returning from injury at such a key point in the international calandar.

Sampson said: “It’s great to have Jordan and Claire back in the squad after their injuries.

“Jordan had a fantastic Cyprus Cup and brings a real energy to the group. On the pitch you can see her enthusiasm for the game bursting through which is a real help to the team.

“Claire deserves huge credit for her recovery and is now back enjoying her football and playing well for Chelsea.”

Sampson knows that the game against Sweden will be tough, with their opposition currently ranked fifth in the Fifa rankings, but expects his side to remain professional and get the win.

He added: “We are looking forward to the Sweden match, it’s the next game on the journey so the challenge is to be better than we were last time out — and this time against really world class opposition. 

“We will be playing in front of our own supporters which is something we love, so the whole group is really going to give everything to put on a positive performance for them and try our best to get the win.”

England end their qualifying campain on September 17 when they take on Montenegro but should be through before then unless they lose to second placed Wales next month.

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