By Chloe Reynolds (9/6/26)
Above: Sarina Wiegman (left) and Lauren Hemp (right) speaking to the media ahead of tonight’s clash between England and Ukraine. Photo: England Football.
England Head coach Sarina Wiegman and senior player Lauren Hemp spoke to the media yesterday ahead of tonight’s clash against Ukraine at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool.
Wiegman has confirmed that changes will be made to the side from the one that lost to World Champions Spain last Friday. “It’s a qualifier, so there are some technical decisions to make because we expect different challenges tomorrow. And yes, I will make some changes” Weigman said.
England are going into tonight’s game knowing that they need a better result than Spain if they want the top spot in their UEFA World Cup qualification group and as such automatically qualify for the World Cup in Brazil next year. If they can’t, they will have to try and qualify via a two legged play off.
Wiegman spoke about the defeat against the World Champions, saying that “of course it was a difficult Friday night that hurt, but we’ve moved on too because we have another game. There was good energy in the team, the team stuck together and we really want to show that.
“It’s really easy when things go well that everyone sticks together and we have conversations. But at moments when you’re having a setback like this, then we really see who we are.”
Hemp also said that tomorrow night’s game will be for the fans, and she hopes that the Lionesses can bounce back and put on a show for the fans.
“I think it’s the mentality of the group and obviously coming off the beat like that, it’s easy to get your heads down, but I think that’s what’s great about this group. We got round each other and yeah, we’ve been training really well. several focusses on tomorrow and putting in a good, relentless performance against Ukraine” Hemp said.
She also said that the team has “obviously looked at their strengths and weaknesses and where we want to exploit so yeah, it’s important that we go out and do that and put on a show for the fans.”
Wiegman has revealed that despite being bottom of the table, this Ukraine side should not be underestimated.
“What we control is our game and it would be really nice for us to get an early goal, and we want to be on the ball a lot” Wiegman said.
“Ukraine, although they haven’t got a point in this campaign yet, but they are improving again.”
England’s automatic World Cup qualification hopes are not completely in their own hands, and as such Weigman confirmed that they will have a member of staff keeping an eye on the clash between Spain and Iceland also happening tonight.
“We have someone there, so we will know,” she explained.
“We’re not planning on sharing that with players. We know what to do. We have to win this game and that’s what we’re going after.”
Hemp added “We’ve all stuck around each other and lifted each other up. That first night, it was very hard for me to get some sleep and for the rest of the girls, as soon as we review the game, it’s then important to look forward on to the next.
“We didn’t play how we wanted to. We didn’t execute the game plan like we should have. For us as players, the thing we love doing is getting back out on the pitch and improving ourselves as a group.”
Liverpool has always been a huge footballing city, but this is the first time that the Lionesses will not only be playing in the city but at the brand new Hill Dickinson Stadium, home of Everton.
Wiegman said that she’s excited to be heading to the stadium.
“I’m really looking forward to it. And to go around the country is really nice, but then playing in this new stadium, … I feel excited and I’m grateful that we can play here” she said.
Hemp added “it’s fantastic. I’ve heard that the stadium is unbelievable and it’s so nice that we’re able to go and play in different stadiums across the whole of the UK.
“I think it’s so important for us to interact with all the fans, and I’ve seen that it’s hopefully getting quite a few fans there. So yeah, I can’t wait to go.”
Follow Impetus on social media:
@ImpetusFootball on Threads, Instagram and TikTok.
impetusfootball.org 