Sarina Wigman explains why former England captain Steph Houghton remains in exile

Steph Houghton battled injury to make it into the preliminary squad for Euro 2022 but didn't make the final squad. Photo: Action Images via Reuters/Karl Resin

Sarina Wigman says she will 'never close the door' before Steph Houghton returns to the England squad, but says the former Liones captain's chances of making it to the World Cup are 'not that great' because she feels that her current centre-backs don't deserve to be thrown.

The England head coach spoke ahead of Tuesday's friendly against Australia at Gtech Community in Brentford and was asked to respond to comments taken by the 34-year-old Houghton after the Manchester City defender opened up. about being expelled from the England squad in an interview on Sunday.

Houghton told BBC 5 Live Sport that she respects Wigman but wants to «close» whether she was part of the Dutchwoman's plans, adding: «I'm realistic about the fact that I probably won't go to the World Cup, but as a player and as stubborn as I am, anything can happen, so I just have to make sure I'm ready. As a player, sometimes you just need some guidance and honesty.»

Asked on Monday if she could imagine a scenario where she would challenge Houghton to the World Cup, Wigman said: «It's difficult, she [Houghton] is in a difficult position at the moment because I don't want to take out players who are in that position because they are doing well.

“So the chances are not that high, but I will never close the door because when you play international football and coach England, you want, so that everyone is also available, so [if] something happens to some players, the situation will change. But right now I'm making a different choice.»

Sarina Wigman said she can't turn down any of her current centre-backs due to form. Photo: Action Images via Reuters/Andrew CooldridgeThe next team to be named by Wigman will be her preliminary World Championship team this summer, ahead of the Down Under tournament starting July 20. She originally named Houghton in her very first Lionesses roster after taking over in September 2021 and named her as captain, but Houghton suffered an Achilles injury in training and has not subsequently appeared for the national team since Wigman's arrival.

“Stef is a very good player, a very experienced player and I have a lot of respect for what she has done for the women's game and she is back at Man City,” added Wigman. “But the players that I have now in this position, I don’t want to remove, because I think they are playing very well. That's why.

“It's difficult because she's done so much for the game, it's difficult with everyone because everyone is training so hard and so is she, she certainly wants to come back. But we had a few other players [whom] I really had to disappoint with my choice. It always makes things harder, but I try to get it across and explain my choices.”

Houghton has made 121 appearances for her country and led the Lionesses to three straight semi-finals in major tournaments. in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

England's meeting with world No. 10 Australia is the final friendly before the summer, when the Lionesses have several warm-up games ahead of their World Cup campaign against Haiti in Brisbane, July 22.

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Manchester United's Ella Thun called the meeting against Australia 'another big game', adding: 'We want to test ourselves against high-profile opponents. We have learned a lot from this game [beating Brazil on Thursday] and every game we play we look back and try to learn from it.”