Ian Wright says he is ‘really pleased’ to see Jess Carter recalled to England’s starting XI for the side’s Women’s Euro 2025 final clash with Spain.
Carter starts in place of Washington Spirit defender Esme Morgan in Basel, with England head coach Sarina Wiegman opting to make just one change to the team that came from behind to beat Italy in the semi-finals.
Prior to the all-important win over Italy, Carter revealed that she had been subjected to racist abuse throughout the Lionesses’ campaign and would therefore be ‘taking a step back’ from social media.
The rest of Wiegman’s England squad have rallied around the 27-year-old defender in the intervening days, while FIFA president Gianni Infantino came out condemning the sickening online messages.
Though Carter had started all four of the holders’ games heading into semi-finals, there had been some uncertainty over the centre-back’s inclusion versus Spain given Morgan’s impressive performance last time out in Geneva.
England’s joint-top goalscorer in Switzerland, Lauren James, has also been given the nod to start the final despite being forced off with an ankle injury previously.
Spain, the reigning world champions, have made two changes to their team that got the better of Germany in the semi-finals, with Laia Aleixandri and Athenea del Castillo coming in for Claudia Pina and Maria Mendez respectively.
On Carter’s return at the heart of Wiegman’s defence, legendary ex-England and Arsenal striker Wright said on ITV: ‘I’m really pleased, to a certain extent, to see Jess Carter in there.
‘That says to me she’s got a lot of faith in her.
‘She’s playing in the same position where she had a little bit of a torrid time, so for her to come in, playing in that position, she’s putting a lot of faith in her.
‘Hopefully Jess can repay that faith.’
ITV colleague Karen Carney, meanwhile, feels the ‘sensational’ Morgan is unfortunate to miss out and believes Alex Greenwood will need to ‘help Carter out’ when England play it out from the back at Basel’s St Jakob-Park.
‘I think what we’ve seen from Sarina is that she’s always picked her players and I think Esme Morgan was sensational,’ the former Arsenal, Chelsea and England winger said.
‘But obviously with Sarina, she likes to play with her tried and trusted and in Jess, she believes in that.
‘What I will see is we have to move the ball quicker. Teams have, perhaps, tracked Jess a little bit so Alex Greenwood has got to help her out, our other defenders and midfielders.
‘They have certainly got to help her out, particularly when we play out from the back today.’
While Wiegman refused to go into detail about the exact reasons for Carter’s return, she told ITV that she was simply making the most of a group of players with ‘different qualities’.
Asked to explain Carter’s inclusion, the England boss said: ‘We have many players with different qualities.
‘Against Italy we thought we needed Esme. In the stating line-up tonight, we need Jess Carter because of what Spain are going to show us.’
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