Sarina Wiegman hopes that Chelsea star will be back fit for the Euros | OneFootball

Lionesses’ head coach Sarina Wiegman is still holding out hope for Chelsea forward Lauren James to return to the England squad before the Euros in July.

The winger suffered a hamstring injury in England’s Nations League match against Belgium in April. She is not fit enough to have been included in Wiegman’s squad for the forthcoming Nations League games against Belgium, at Wembley, and Spain in Barcelona.

Despite James being absent, the Lionesses’ were handed a major boost as Bayern Munich’s Georgia Stanway and Manchester City duo Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood were all recalled to the squad after injuries.

The Lionesses’ boss is keen to call up the Chelsea star but understands that James needs to be fully fit and ready to go before she can do so.

“Lauren James is in a different position to other players. We look at her as an individual. She is where she should be at but she cannot join us in the next camp.”

Wiegman added: “With her we are trying to build together with her club. She, as with many other players, really wants to go to the Euros and hopefully we can get her fit and ready to go into it.

“She needs to be healthy, be able to train, recover from training and then build a bit. We need to find balance in the squad, you cannot bring in three or four players in that stage of recovery.”

Arsenal are set to face Barcelona in the Champions League final on the 24th of May and Lionesses’ stars Alessia Russo, Leah Williamson, Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead are all set to be involved but Wiegman is not concerned about injuries and instead urges them to enjoy it.

“This is really exciting, playing a Champions League final. That is not a concern, that is exciting. It is really great that there is an English team there and that we have international players there too.” she said.

“I am really looking forward to the final. That is a part of their journey that they should be really celebrating. Hopefully they get something really good out of it and enjoy that moment too.”

Although the Euros in Switzerland is looming, the England head coach believes that the final Nations League group games against Portugal and Spain at the end of the month are still important for her side.

“We know there is a big summer coming but we want to do well in the Nations League too. The Portugal game is a very important one because if we do well there we can secure first or second spot in the group. That is what we want to do.

“But at the same time it is preparation for the Euros; the Portugal match is a very competitive game under the highest of pressure, the same with the Spain.”