Jill Scott is back in the England squad and fighting fit after a post-World Cup rest from international duty.
The 32-year-old midfielder has returned to Phil Neville’s squad for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Portugal having been left out of the last camp.
In her absence the Lionesses let a two-goal lead slip to draw 3-3 with Belgium before being defeated 2-1 by Norway, who England had beaten in the World Cup quarter finals just two months prior.
Scott’s omission was not, however, due to any form of injury but instead a calculated plan by Neville to give the midfield linchpin a well-earned rest after a busy summer that saw her shine in France.
“Phil spoke to me ahead of the last camp and explained that it would be good for me to get a good pre-season under my belt,” said the Manchester City star.
“The World Cup was very tiring; playing seven games in a short space of time like that is very tiring so it was just a case of resting up.
“I don’t think those results were a catastrophe. As a more experienced player you do usually find that after major tournaments you do experience a ‘hangover’ to some extent.
“Now we have got another couple of games coming up to put that right and we will very swiftly move on.”
England face Brazil at a sold-out Riverside Stadium on Saturday before travelling to Setubal to play Portugal next Tuesday.
Neville has reinforced the value of experience in his squad in the run-up to the latest instalment of friendlies and in Scott, the England boss has one of the most well-versed players in world football.
Only Fara Williams and Karen Carney boast more England caps than the Sunderland-born midfielder.
Scott herself is conscious that the camp needs equilibrium and believes her manager has found just that with his latest selection.
“The balance of the squad is the most important thing because every team needs experience and every team needs young players coming through,” she added.
“I think it is fantastic that the likes of Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp are training with us and hopefully that will help them get into future squads. It’s all about trusting the process.
“It’s vital that teams have that experience of major tournaments but it’s the youth that brings that fire and no-fear mentality and I think we have a combination of that in the squad at the moment.”
