Wiegman praises Toone’s attitude after late Lionesses recall for Greece playoff

Sarina Wiegman heaped praise on Ella Toone for her positive reaction to being left out of England’s initial squad for their Women’s World Cup playoff against Greece, after recalling the Manchester United midfielder for Friday’s first leg in Heraklion, Crete.

An injury sustained by Lucy Bronze, described by Wiegman as “really small”, prompted the England right-back to return to Chelsea and Wiegman called up Toone, who travelled to Greece from Spain, where she had organised a training routine during the international window.

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Toone has 69 caps and has scored 24 goals, including in the Euro 2022 final and 2023 World Cup semi-final, but Wiegman said when naming her squad that she had left out Toone and Chloe Kelly because “the levels weren’t what I expect from them on the pitch”. On Saturday, after starting Manchester United’s victory over Liverpool, Toone took ownership of things, telling the BBC: “It’s about me now. I’ve got to keep working hard and use it as fuel to come back even better.”

Wiegman, asked whether she had been impressed with Toone’s response, said: “Yes, very much. I think when I gave her the call, of course that was a hard call. But she took that straight away. Of course [she was] very disappointed, but the first thing she did [was say]: ‘OK, I’m going to get back, I’m going to do that.’ She has the support around her too.”

The head coach referenced Toone’s post-match comments when she said: “That answer in the game, also the way she spoke about it, I thought that was really good. And then getting everything ready to go to Spain instead, but go for training there, I think that really impressed me. Well done, I would say.”

That will be music to the ears of Toone, whose experience is also understood to have been a factor in Wiegman picking her rather than a replacement right-back. She could feature on Friday, when the European champions will hope to build a strong first-leg lead before Tuesday’s reverse fixture in Leicester.

To qualify for next summer’s finals in Brazil, England must overcome Greece and win another two-leg playoff, against Slovakia or Ukraine, in December.

(4-2-3-1) Hampton; Le Tissier, Morgan, Williamson, Greenwood; Stanway, Walsh; Mead, James, Hemp; Russo

Greece v England, Pankritio Stadium, Friday, 5.30pm BST

The draw for the World Cup will follow on 11 December and it would feel inconceivable for the 2023 runners-up to miss out. They are in the playoffs despite winning five of their six qualifiers in a group with Spain, the defending champions, who pipped England to top spot by virtue of their stronger head-to-head goal difference.

Greece have never qualified for a major tournament and, major underdogs against England, will probably set up in a low, defensive shape. The England defender Esme Morgan said she and her teammates would remain calm even if it takes time to break through: “It’s just [about] persistence and trying not to get drawn into being frustrated by the opposition. I think a really good example of it was the away game we played against Ukraine [in qualifying].

“We couldn’t seem to break through in the first half – the keeper was making saves, I think we struck the woodwork a couple of times – but the messaging at half-time among the players and when Sarina came in to speak to us was just to keep continuing because we were creating opportunities. Not to start snatching or taking hot shots from distance, just trusting in the style of play that we have and in our ability to keep finding gaps in and around the defence. We came out for the second half after that and scored really, really quickly. So it’s just sticking to the gameplan, trusting in what we do and being patient”