Fran Kirby names four leaders pivotal to Lionesses' Euros defence after key withdrawals

Fran Kirby is confident England’s Euros squad is full of leaders despite high-profile withdrawals in the lead-up to the tournament. Kirby announced her international retirement in early June, just a few days after fellow Euro 2022 winner Mary Earps.

Sarina Wiegman will also be without Lionesses star Millie Bright for the tournament, after the defender said she was “not able to give 100 per cent mentally or physically. " Kirby still has faith in the levels of experience and leadership in the group, though.

England go into this summer’s tournament in Switzerland as reigning champions, having won the last edition of the Euros on home soil, but have been handed a tough group stage draw. They take on France in their opening game on July 5, with matches against Holland and Wales to follow.

“Obviously you lose three players who have a lot of experience, it's difficult. But for me, looking at that squad, I see a lot of leaders in there,” Kirby told Mirror Football at an event hosted by leading ticket marketplace, viagogo.

“I see a lot of leaders that people from the outside maybe don't see, but from the inside they're very influential and very driven and they help drive the standards of the team. And you only know that once you're in the environment with those sorts of people."

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“So yes, it's going to be a massive loss to not have those players but there are other players who can step up into their roles. People like Lucy [Bronze], Alex Greenwood's there, Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway, all these players that have played in major tournaments for the past three, four tournaments. So for me I don't see that as a concern.

“Obviously there was a lot of noise going on around 'what's going on in the England team, what's happening here and there' but these things happen. It becomes a cycle - players retire, players move on, and it's not a case of trying to make things difficult for anyone, it's just a decision that that person makes and it has to be respected."

“But for me, looking at that squad, I'm excited by it. I'm very excited by it regardless of who's not there. For me it's an exciting squad and there's a lot of leaders in that team who have been there and pulled the team through difficult moments previously."

Kirby weighed up her retirement decision for “over a year,” ultimately making sure she was able to say goodbye to her team-mates on her own terms, and is confident that was the right approach. “When I spoke to Sarina about it, it was a case of do you want to do it now or do you want to wait, and I was like 'Do you know what, I'd rather do it so I tell the girls to their faces and it doesn't come out on social media, it doesn't get told by anyone else',” she added.

“I've played with a lot of those girls for a long time, so I wanted to give the respect to the moment so I could say thank you to all of them and wish them good luck to their faces, and tell them I hope they go on and have an amazing time. So it was a really nice moment and the girls were lovely.

“Lucy said some really nice words which I really appreciated as well - obviously she's someone I've played with for a long time. It was a really nice moment and I'm really glad I did it that way rather than… letting rumours spiral, I could just address it and then kind of get on with it.”

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