BARCELONA : England defender Lucy Bronze said a positive result from Tuesday’s Nations League game against world champions Spain would set her team up nicely for the defence of their European Championship title.
While England are coming off a 6-0 Nations League thrashing of Portugal on Friday at Wembley, Spain defeated Belgium 5-1 to remain top of the group with one game remaining. The winners of the four groups advance to the knockout finals starting in October.
“(A win would give us) a lot of confidence, but we already have beaten them this year so we’ve got a lot of confidence from that,” Bronze told reporters on Monday, referring to England’s 1-0 Nations League win over the Spaniards in February.
“That Spain performance from us in Wembley was brilliant. You can find things to gain confidence from. It’s not the be-all and end-all (Tuesday),” she said. “In terms of the Nations League it is. (But) we might not even face Spain in the Euros. We get confidence from ourselves and others.”
Tuesday’s match in Barcelona is England’s last before manager Sarina Wiegman announces her European Championship squad on Thursday.
“We are pretty close (to finalising the squad),” Wiegman said. “Still you want to go to the game tomorrow and then make the final decisions, but we are pretty close.”
The one big Euros question mark is the fitness of Chelsea striker Lauren James, who has not played since suffering a hamstring injury in April.
“We’re trying to get her fit. She’s trying to get fit with all the support from Chelsea and us. She is doing really well,” Wiegman said. “She needs to tick some boxes and progress. We need her to be fit and healthy and perform at her highest level.”
Wiegman is also without defender Millie Bright, who withdrew from camp for an extended period saying she was “mentally and physically” at her limit.
“Millie is a real big personality and big player for England and Chelsea,” Bronze said. “She’s missed with what she brings on and off the pitch. We want to make sure she’s OK both physically and mentally. She’s someone who’s quite tough and it’s brave that she came out and spoke..”
England kick off their European Championship campaign in Switzerland against France on July 5.
