Sarina Wiegman calls for her England side to play without fear against the United States next month... after recalling Euro 2022 winners Chloe Kelly and Fran Kirby, plus naming uncapped duo Jess Park and Lucy Parker in her latest squad

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England manager Sarina Wiegman hopes any previous ‘fear factor’ around playing the United States has diminished ahead of their sold-out Wembley clash next month.

The Lionesses’ friendly with the World Cup holders will be their biggest test since winning the European Championship this summer.

The US are still the No 1 ranked country in the world and beat England in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup. But Wiegman urged her team to show courage.

Sarina Wiegman wants England to play without fear against the United States next month

Chloe Kelly is back in the England squad after previously missing out through injury

Fran Kirby has also been recalled after starting the season strongly at Chelsea

‘If there was [a fear factor] I hope so, I think the development of our team over the year and in the Euros, the experiences we got I think we showed courage and we really played with courage to win and not to prevent mistakes and that’s what we want to do all the time.

‘That’s what we tell the players too and that’s how we will approach the USA game too. We all know it’s a big opponent but Germany and Spain are really, really big opponents too. We just approach it the same we do, playing to win, accepting mistakes and hopefully we can bring our style of play on the pitch.

‘I think they [the USA] are excited too, I don’t think the Americans have fear but they’ve also seen how good we’ve done in the Euros and I think they will respect us too and that’s what we do with them too.’

Wiegman handed youngsters Jess Park and Lucy Parker their first senior call-ups after impressive starts to the season while Euro winners Nikita Parris, Beth England and Lotte Wubben-Moy dropped out of the squad due to a lack of game time with their Women’s Super League clubs. Jordan Nobbs, who made the last squad, also missed out on selection.

There were recalls for Chloe Kelly and Fran Kirby, who missed the last camp through injury, while Esme Morgan has also been brought back into the fold.

Jess Park has earned her first call-up as a reward for her good form at Everton this season

Lucy Parker has also been given her first England call-up and could be in line for her debut

‘We have 10 months to prepare for the World Cup. There are talented players knocking on the door,’ Wiegman said.

‘We have followed Jess Park for a while. I think she can play up front but also in midfield. She is a little more dropping inside now. It is exciting for her. We made the final decisions after the last match. We didn’t have lots of opportunities so we wanted to use those games to finalise our decisions.

‘Lucy Parker is very athletic. She has had some injuries but has had good preparation and good games. It will be good to see what they can do compared to some more experienced players.

‘There were hard conversations and hard choices. When you look at the team it is very competitive in the different positions. We look at quality, talent, being fit and having playing minutes with your team, then winning the competition for ones you are in the same position as.

‘Lauren James is doing really well too. So some players just lost the competition at this moment. Hopefully they can show and give us headaches for the next time.

‘Picking players is all about performance and what we see is there is a big competition and the depth in the squad is really good. It’s hard to make choices so I had conversations with all the players who were in the squad before, but are not now.

Maya Le Tissier missed out on the squad despite starting the season well at Manchester United

‘I gave them some feedback and now they have to work and try to fight their way back in. Of course, we’ll keep following them because they are very good players. It’s not just that we’ll follow 22 or 24 players, we’ll follow a big group of players and pick the best ones. It’s ten months until the World Cup starts, it’s also an opportunity to bring through some young players to see where they are at.’

There was no place in the squad for Manchester United defender Maya Le Tissier despite an impressive start to the season.

‘Maya did very good, it’s really nice that she scored but her main job is not scoring, it’s defending, it’s the build-up, she did very well but the other players did a little bit more.

‘We are watching her, she’s in the U23s, there are lots of very good players in the U23s ready to come in and at the moment these are the players we picked.’

England play the United States on October 7 at Wembley before taking on the Czech Republic at Brighton four days later.