Jordan Nobbs called up to England squad following key withdrawal

Jordan Nobbs has been called up to the England squad for the Arnold Clark Cup after Fran Kirby was forced to withdraw through injury.

Kirby sustained a knee injury in the first half of Chelsea's 7-0 Continental Cup victory over West Ham on Thursday evening, and was replaced before half time. The forward will remain with the Blues to receive treatment.

The Lionesses begin their Arnold Clark Cup defence on Thursday 16 December against the Korea Republic, before taking on Belgium on Italy.

Nobbs was not initially named in Sarina Wiegman's 26-player squad for February's invitational friendly tournament, and has been in and out of the England squad since missing out on Euro 2022 through injury.

In January, the midfielder called time on her 12 years at Arsenal to join Aston Villa, having seen limited game time with the Gunners this term and with the 2023 World Cup on the horizon.

Nobbs - capped 70 times by England - has started three from three in the WSL for Villa since her January switch.

She was one of three England internationals who made a move during the January window in search of minutes to force themselves back into contention ahead of the World Cup this summer, alongside Bethany England and Lucy Staniforth.

The trio were not named in the Lionesses' Arnold Clark Cup squad, and Wiegman explained during Tuesday's press conference that this was due to the performances of those ahead of them in the pecking order.

"Those players are all competing for selection," said Wiegman. "I think they are in a good place if they move clubs to play a lot now. They can improve their game and I think that is good for competition.

"But you can't control your competition. It is good they get minutes but it doesn't guarantee you will be selected, they have to compete with other players in their position too. We can at least see where they are at now and how they are improving."