Carney and Dowie return to international fold

England Women’s Head Coach, Hope Powell, has named her squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifying Group fixture against Turkey.

England are currently second in Group Five after opening their campaign with a comfortable 8-0 win against Malta last month in Blackpool. Powell and her squad will travel to Turkey looking to close the gap on group leaders Spain, who are in first place having played two games more. The match kicks off at 2pm local time (noon GMT) on Thursday 26 November at the New Buca Stadium in Izmir.

Karen Carney returns to the squad after being rested for the Malta game while Everton’s Natasha Dowie also earns a recall to the Senior squad after her impressive start to the season for the Toffees. Kelly Smith misses out again due to a knee injury. Despite their victory against Malta, Powell has added more firepower to her squad with the inclusion of Carney and Dowie and will be hoping for victory in England’s last fixture of 2009.

“It’s important that we go out there and get maximum points," she said.

"We’re expected to win against Turkey but the players will not be complacent. We were disappointed not to score more goals against Malta, given the chances we created, but I couldn’t fault the players’ application or attitude, they were spot on all week. We’ve never played Turkey before so we will be going into the unknown, but we aim to be professional and will hopefully get the result we need.”

Powell admitted competition for places has never been greater within the squad, and the recalls of Dowie and Carney are proof of that.

“Natasha has started the season well with Everton," Powell explained. "She has worked hard and scored goals. She’s in the squad due to her current form and hopefully she will be a real asset for us.

"It’s always nice to have a player of Karen’s ability to bring back into the squad, everyone knows what she can do and the rest after the Euros will have done her the world of good. Both players coming in hopefully shows how much competition for places there is at the moment and that can only be a good thing.”

The fixture against Turkey marks England’s last match of what has been a very successful year, not just for the Senior team but also the younger age groups.

“I said around four or five years ago that 2009 could be a stand-out year for England Women and that has been proven.

"The U19s had an exceptional year, winning their Euros in style by playing good football and with the Seniors reaching a European Final as well, it has been a good year for the Women’s game. Great strides have been made both on and off the pitch this year, with central contracts in place and the impending Super League plans for 2011.

"A win against Turkey will really round off 2009 and everyone can have a good Christmas before we start again in January.”

For all media requesting accreditation to the game, please e-mail Johann.Alexander@TheFA.com

Squad in full