Leah Williamson returns to England Women's squad for the first time in 10 months

Lionesses captain Leah Williamson has returned to Sarina Wiegman’s 23-player squad, 10 months after rupturing her ACL.

Sarina Wiegman has named her latest squad ahead of the Lionesses’ upcoming friendly matches against Austria and Italy this month.

And the biggest talking point ahead of her announcement was whether the England captain, Leah Williamson, would return to the fold.

Williamson hasn’t played for the Lionesses since she ruptured her ACL in April last year – her last match was a 2-0 defeat against Australia on April 11, a friendly held at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium.

The Euros winner was forced to miss the Women’s World Cup in Australia, which England lost 1-0 to Spain in the final.

Williamson made her long-awaited return to Arsenal’s starting XI line-up last month and she has started in Arsenal’s last two games – in the Gunners’ 2-1 defeat to West Ham on February 4 and in Sunday’s defeat to Manchester City in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.

And now, in a huge boost for the team, Sarina has decided to bring the 26-year-old back into the squad.

England will face Austria on February 23 and Italy on February 27 at Estadio Nuevo Mirador. Both matches will be shown on ITV.