Sarina Wiegman explains England call ups for uncapped Maya Le Tissier & Katie Robinson
By Ali Rampling
Sarina Wiegman has explained that uncapped youngsters Maya Le Tissier and Katie Robinson have been called up for England's November squad due to their performances at club and youth level, and with an eye on whether they can challenge for a place at next summer's World Cup.
Le Tissier and Robinson were two of five new additions to the Lionesses squad ahead of their friendlies with Norway and Japan, alongside recalls for Jordan Nobbs and Niamh Charles, and a return for Alessia Russo following her comeback from injury.
The pair are both aged just 20 and are yet to be capped at senior level, but have impressed domestically this season - Le Tissier for new club Manchester United, and Robinson for Le Tissier's former employers Brighton.
"We have about eight months to get prepared for the World Cup," said Wiegman. "What we want to see: where are the young players now?
Maya has done well with the Under-23s, she went to a new club with Manchester Untied, so a couple more young players that are doing well with their team and the Under 23s and this is an opportunity to give them and show what they can in our squad and hopefully they can compete real quickly, and this gives us some headaches to make decisions."
Robinson ruptured her ACL just two months after signing for Brighton in the summer of 2020, limiting her to just one WSL appearance during her debut campaign.
The winger spent the second half of the 2021/22 season on loan at Championship outfit Charlton, but has featured in all five of Brighton's WSL fixtures this season - netting the decisive second during her side's victory over Reading and drawing particular praise for her performance against Chelsea.
"She's done well - last Sunday [Brighton 0-8 Tottenham] was not the best game but over the period she's done well," Wiegman added. "She's done well with the Under-23s, she has some qualities that she's shown, and we'd really like to see her in our environment at the top level and to see what she can bring and if she can compete with the players in her position.
"She has speed, she wants to go forward so she comes behind the defence all the time, and she's goal oriented and that's what we want to see in the position where she could come to play."