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Manchester City’s 19-year-old goalkeeper Khiara Keating has received her first senior England call up for October’s Nations League fixtures against Belgium.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Grace Clinton, who is on a season-long loan from Manchester United, has also been selected for the first time.

Chelsea forward Fran Kirby returns to the squad after missing out on the World Cup with a knee injury sustained in February but there is no place for Beth Mead, who made her Arsenal comeback during Sunday’s victory over Aston Villa following 11 months out with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

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Keira Walsh also returns after missing September’s Nations League fixtures through injury.

Aston Villa pair Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Staniforth and Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs have dropped out, while there is a recall for Villa’s Lucy Parker. She has operated as a midfielder for Carla Ward’s side this season but is named as a defender in the England squad.

Keating has started all three of Manchester City’s Women’s Super League fixtures this term and particularly impressed during October’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. She is one of four keepers called up by Sarina Wiegman, alongside City team-mate Ellie Roebuck, Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton and Manchester United’s Mary Earps. Neither Roebuck or Hampton have featured in the WSL this season.

“That’s a little bit complicated,” Wiegman said on her goalkeeper situation. “We want players to play. Both of them (Roebuck and Hampton) have built a little bit of credit with us because they’ve been with our team for a longer period of time and they’ve done well in training sessions and they’ve shown up all the time.

“I think they are still the best goalkeepers in the country, I just hope in the future they get minutes. That makes it a little bit complicated, but I did pick them because I still think they’re the best in the country.”

Clinton, 20, has featured three times for Tottenham this season and scored her first WSL goal during Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Brighton.

Mead, England’s top scorer during their triumphant Euro 2022 campaign, suffered an ACL injury last November and played her first competitive minutes since her spell on the sidelines on Sunday. The forward was introduced with two minutes of normal time remaining at the Emirates against Villa and set up Alessia Russo’s late winner for Arsenal, but Wiegman said she was not in contention for a place in October’s squad.

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“To be honest she was not close,” the England manager said. “She’s in a good place now, she’s been out for nine months, she’s had her first minutes and she was really happy. First she has to build up club (minutes), show performance at her club and get that consistency back and then I hope she performs at that level and we have an opportunity to select her and she has the opportunity to compete with the players who are in the squad right now.”

England host Belgium at the King Power Stadium on October 27 before the reverse fixture at Den Dreef Stadium on October 31.

England Women squad

Goalkeepers: Mary Earps (Manchester United), Hannah Hampton (Chelsea), Khiara Keating (Manchester City), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City)

Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Barcelona), Jess Carter (Chelsea), Niamh Charles (Chelsea), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United),  Esme Morgan (Manchester City), Lucy Parker (Aston Villa), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)

Midfielders: Grace Clinton (Tottenham Hotspur, loan from Manchester United),Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Keira Walsh (Barcelona), Katie Zelem (Manchester United)

Forwards: Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Lauren James (Chelsea), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City), Jess Park (Manchester City), Alessia Russo (Arsenal)

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Kirby back in business, worldie-scoring Clinton and an expanded GK union

Analysis from Women’s Football Editor Chloe Morgan

It’s hard not to have become a little fatigued by Lionesses squad announcements. There had been little change between the World Cup and the recent Women’s Nations League games but Sarina Wiegman has had a shuffle this time round.

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Fran Kirby is back in international business. She’s been integral to Chelsea’s strong start to the season, ensuring the Blues have remained in the top four despite every WSL team losing at least a point in the opening three games (and two of the WSL titans Manchester United and Arsenal sitting unusually low in 6th and 7th place respectively).

Wiegman was direct when asked about Beth Mead’s absence: “to be honest, she was not close (to making the team)”. It’s understandable. Mead came on in the 88th minute for Arsenal against Aston Villa at the weekend. Despite claiming the winning assist, getting only 15 minutes of WSL action since her injury was never going to be enough to get her place back in the squad, especially with so much competition from worldie-scoring youngsters…

Enter Grace Clinton. The 20-year-old makes her debut in the Lionesses squad. If you haven’t seen it already, take a look at the 65th-minute screamer she scored this weekend against Brighton to help Spurs secure their second win of the season with a 3-1 victory.

Another debut call up for Manchester City goalkeeper Khiara Keating. Keating has well and truly cemented herself as the City first choice, displacing WSL stalwart Ellie Roebuck in goal. It will be an unusual Lionesses GK union for Roebuck, who started 17 games out of 22 for City last year. She will need to manage any frustrations she may have about losing her league starting place to Keating.

Goalkeeper coach Darren Ward will have a lot on his hands, juggling four personalities (an expanded union from Wiegman’s last selection).

(Photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

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