Lauren James is in line for her first appearance since sustaining a hamstring injury in April when England host Jamaica in Sunday鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Euro 2025 send-off friendly.
The Chelsea forward, 23, has been unable to feature for club or country since limping off midway through the Lionesses鈥 5-0 Nations League win against Belgium nearly three months ago.
James returned to training last week and boss Sarina Wiegman says the England star could feature in Sunday鈥檚 final warm-up friendly against Jamaica at Leicester鈥檚 King Power Stadium.
鈥淲e have to manage the minutes,鈥 the Lionesses head coach said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 doing really well, but of course she hasn鈥檛 played games yet. But she鈥檚 in a good place.
鈥淪he will likely come off the bench, we can manage that a bit. She showed up on the training session really well. She could cope with loads and recover from loads. Her performance has been really good.
鈥淪he鈥檚 ready, we鈥檙e just still growing into minutes. This is the first time in a while that she鈥檚 coming into a game and [she needs to] get through that. Then we鈥檒l take it from there towards the tournament.鈥
James sparkled during England鈥檚 run to the World Cup final in Australia two years ago and team-mate Jess Carter says it is 鈥渞eally exciting鈥 for her to be back.
鈥淔or me she鈥檚 a good friend and we all know she is an incredible footballer, but I think the most impressive thing for me is just that she has come back in like a new player,鈥 the defender said.
鈥淢aybe the injury was a bit of a blessing in disguise, in terms of that she just looks so fresh, so sharp, and she really impacts the game and the team.
鈥淎nd she is a pain to play against. Good luck to any of the other players having to play against her in the tournament.鈥
England kick off their Euros title defence against France in Zurich next Saturday, before Group D continues with clashes against the Netherlands and Wales.
It is a tough-looking pool, but Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham has said that Wiegman will stay regardless of the outcome in Switzerland.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had conversations and, of course, I extended my contract until 2027, after the World Cup,鈥 said the Lionesses boss, who has led England to Euros glory and a World Cup final in her two tournaments at the helm.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going into a new tournament now and I feel very happy here. I鈥檓 excited to go into a new tournament.
鈥淚鈥檓 not looking too much ahead 鈥 the contract is until 2027 and I鈥檝e always felt so much support from Mark and the board and I still feel that way. And it鈥檚 really nice that he confirms that.鈥