Sarina Wiegman expects England to cope without Walsh

01 August 2023 , 04:21

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Sarina Wiegman will have to ensure England can cope without Keira Walsh against China

Sarina Wiegman believes England are "strong enough" to cope without Keira Walsh against China.

The Lionesses need just a point to secure top spot in Group D, which would seal a round of 16 tie with Nigeria in Brisbane. But they will be without Walsh, who was stretchered off in the 1-0 win over Denmark.

She has not ruptured her ACL but has stayed back at the team base in Terrigal rather than travel to Adelaide with the rest of the 23-player squad. Speaking ahead of the China clash, Wiegman refused to say whether Walsh would play again at this World Cup.

"We said that it’s not an ACL, I can’t give you any more information," Wiegman said. "We are only focusing on the game tomorrow. After that we will continue.

"We have a strong enough team, every game we want to be at our best. We know she’s not available. We have a group of 23 so now we have a group of 22. We have our solutions – and we’ll show that.

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"Of course it’s not nice to lose players. First of all for them and second for the team. But yes we’re here to move on. It’s part of sport and it’s not nice but you have to move on and adapt to the new situation and find a way of bringing 11 players on the pitch who we think we can win the game.

The Lionesses have won both games without conceding a goal to sit top of Group D with one game to go. But their performance levels are yet to reach the dizzy heights of their victorious Euros campaign.

Sarina Wiegman, Head Coach of England, and Georgia Stanway of England speak to the media in Adelaide

And the England boss wants her side to pass the ball with greater accuracy as they look to hit top form ahead and secure a place in the knockout stage.

"We had moments in both games where we played really well," added Wiegman. "And moments where we lost the ball too much. We want to keep the passing game in a good place and try to create chances to score goals.

"That’s the main thing – to keep control of the game as much as possible – because sometimes that’s really hard."

Wiegman has a big decision to make on who fills in for the absent Walsh. Against Denmark she dropped Georgia Stanway back into a deeper role, with Laura Coombs coming off the bench to bring energy to the midfield.

But Man Utd's Katie Zelem and Aston Villa's Jordan Nobbs could also be utilised by the Dutch coach.

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