Womens squad named for Malta Qualifier

England v Malta
FIFA 2011 Women's World Cup
Qualification Group Five
5.30pm, Sunday 25 October 2009
Bloomfield Road, Blackpool FC
Click here for the Charter Standard booking form Click here for the Charter Standard booking form
Click here for the Group booking form Click here for the Group booking form
Tickets are priced £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions
Ticket hotline - 0871 622 1953 (option 1) or Click Here to buy online Click Here to buy online

Hope Powell has named her England squad for the opening match of the FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying campaign, as her team take their first steps towards the Finals in Germany in 2011.

This World Cup Qualifier is England’s first match since returning from the UEFA European Women's Championship in Finland, where they finished runners up to Germany.

England will be looking to get their World Cup campaign off to a positive start against Malta, a country they have never faced in competition before. Doncaster Rovers Belles’ forward, Rachel Williams, and Chelsea defender, Dunia Susi, come into the squad in place of Kelly Smith and Karen Carney.

Smith misses out due to a long-term knee injury, while Carney is being rested after a long season in the WPSL and the Euros. Both players will not be risked for this fixture but will hope to be back in contention for the next Qualifier, against Turkey in November.

Powell believes expectations have been raised after the performance in the Euros, but admits the entire squad and staff are looking forward to building on this progress and making sure they secure a place in the World Cup Finals.

“We are really looking forward to the new campaign," Powell said. "The main objective is to qualify for another tournament and try to reach another Final. We have qualified for three tournaments in a row now and made progress in each one. We must make sure we qualify from our group, we have to finish top to reach the play-offs, so every game is important, starting with Malta.

“The players did fantastically well to reach the Final of the Euros." she continued. "We came up against the best team in the world in Germany, who proved why they are so good, and we have to learn from that experience. On reflection, I think we would admit that we didn’t always play our best football in Finland, but what we did show was how much character we have in our squad and we overcame many obstacles to reach the Final, which was very pleasing.

"The experience of playing six games in a tournament will be vital for our players who will be able draw on that experience in the future.”

Powell maintains that England now have to move forward and feels teams will try even harder against her side after their success in the summer.

“The objective now is to really kick on; we can't afford to rest on our laurels or become complacent. The Euros are behind us now and we have to focus on our games ahead. Spain will obviously be the main challengers in our group, but we cannot afford to look past Malta, Turkey or Austria. I think teams will now treat games against us like their Cup Final - the more success you have, the more teams will look to upset the form book.

"We have never played Malta before, so I’m looking forward to a new challenge. We have started doing our homework on them already and we will be ready for them in Blackpool.”

England’s Head Coach is also looking forward to playing at Bloomfield Road, England's first match on home soil since July.

“We always get great crowds up north and the players and I are looking forward to coming to Blackpool. It’s a great stadium and hopefully we will get a big crowd along to support the players. We had great support from our fans in Finland and fingers crossed we get more of the same at Bloomfield Road.”

Squad in full:

Name	Club
Rachel Brown	Everton
Siobhan Chamberlain	Chelsea
Karen Bardsley	Sky Blue FC
Anita Asante*	Sky Blue FC
Faye White	Arsenal
Casey Stoney	Chelsea
Rachel Unitt	Everton
Laura Bassett	Arsenal
Lindsey Johnson	Everton
Alex Scott	Boston Breakers
Dunia Susi	Chelsea
Dan Buet	Chelsea
Fara Williams	Everton
Katie Chapman	Arsenal
Jill Scott	Everton
Rachel Williams	Doncaster Rovers Belles
Emily Westwood	Everton
Jess Clarke	Leeds Carnegie
Sue Smith	Leeds Carnegie
Eniola Aluko	St Louis Athletica
Jody Handley	Everton
Lianne Sanderson	Chelsea