Sarina Wiegman has left the door open for Lauren James to make the squad for Euro 2025 even if there are question marks over her fitness running into the competition.
James picked up a hamstring injury while on England duty against Belgium in April. There was no timeframe put on her recovery at the time and she was omitted from the Lionesses' squad for their matches against Portugal (May 30) and Spain (June 3).
While Wiegman had the welcome boost of Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood all returning, the prognosis over the Chelsea star's fitness looks a little uncertain.
When asked how James was faring, Wiegman said: "She's where she should be. She can't join us in the next camp but we're trying to build together with the club.
"She wants to go to the Euros and hopefully we can get her fit and ready to go into it. She needs to be healthy, be able to train, recover from training and then build a bit. You can't bring in three or four players in that stage [of recovery], but maybe one player who's in that stage."
England's last match before they start their Euros defence on July 5 is against Jamaica on July 29. That could be James' last chance to prove her fitness ahead of the tournament.
"She's working very hard to get fit for the Euros," Wiegman said. "She's a special player and has moments in a game where she can be decisive.
"Let's see how far she can gets, and what she can bring us. But she's working hard to get there."
