World’s best next for Lioness Maya

The Guernsey star, who won her sixth cap when she played the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 win over South Africa last month, has been named in the 24-strong group for the home matches against USA and Switzerland as Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses continue their preparations for next summer’s Uefa Women’s Euro 2025 tournament.

The strong nature of the Manchester United Women’s defence is emphasised by the selection of Millie Turner and Gabby George alongside their club captain Le Tissier.

‘This is an important international window for us to continue our work to be ready for next summer’s Euros. Every minute of these two games and every moment spent together at St George’s Park is to make sure we’re where we need to be when the tournament begins on 2 July,’ said Wiegman.

‘As we continue our preparations we want to test ourselves against the very best and that’s why we have carefully selected the USA and Switzerland. They are two opponents who will challenge us in different ways this window and that’s exactly what we want.’

The game against the Olympic champions and Fifa’s No 1 ranked team USA will be played at Wembley on Saturday 30 November.

The Lionesses will then meet Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on Tuesday 3 December.

‘The USA need no introductions and to play them at Wembley Stadium in front of a packed home crowd again is going to be very special. Under Emma [Hayes] they’ve reached a really top level,’ Wiegman said.

‘Switzerland are improving all the time and their impressive victory against France last month shows what they are capable of and how much they continue to grow and develop. It’ll be nice to return to Sheffield, a stadium which gave us one of our most memorable moments together, but our full focus is now on our next chapter as a team.’

The Uefa Women’s Euro draw takes place on Monday 16 December.