FORMER York City youngster Jess Park and ex-York College student Rachel Daly have both been selected in the England squad ahead of their upcoming Women's EURO 2025 qualifiers.

The Lionesses will begin the defence of their title against World Cup semi-finalists Sweden at Wembley Stadium on Friday, April 5 (8pm) before facing the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Tuesday, April 9 (7:30pm).

Whilst England's last match against Sweden resulted in an emphatic 4-0 victory in the EURO semi-finals in 2022, they will take on the Republic of Ireland for the first time since 1987.

Daly, who studied a Diploma in Sport in York, featured at left-back during England's EURO-winning campaign two years ago, but is named among Sarina Wiegman's forwards after scoring six times for Aston Villa so far this season.

She took home the Women's Super League golden boot last term, and was named as the PFA Player of the Year last August.

Meanwhile 22-year-old Park, who began her career with York City, will hope to add to her seven senior caps after impressing with Manchester City. 

The young midfielder scored twice and assisted Khadija Shaw's record-breaking goal in Saturday's Manchester derby victory in front of the England boss, who was among the crowd of over 40,000 in attendance at the Etihad Stadium.

Wiegman said: “There’s no time to waste. February’s window showed who we are and where we want to go and we’ll look to continue that momentum from the minute we arrive at St. George’s Park next week.

“We know it’s a challenging group, but it’s really exciting. These are all big games that will test us and that’s the kind of fixtures we want to play in.

"Every opponent we face is a top nation and we know we have to perform at our best to achieve our goals. We’ll be ready for Sweden at Wembley.

“Wembley has been the home of some of our biggest moments together and it holds such special memories. It’s no coincidence that we feel inspired when play there.

"The fans have provided such fantastic support every time and there’s no doubt they can help us again against Sweden.”

France join England, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland in qualifying group Group A3, among the 15 sides bidding to join hosts Switzerland at EURO 2025.

The top two nations in the four League A groups will qualify automatically for the tournament, alongside seven teams via the play-offs.

GOALKEEPERS: Mary Earps (Manchester United), Hannah Hampton (Chelsea), Khiara Keating (Manchester City)

MIDFIELDERS: Grace Clinton (Tottenham Hotspur, loan from Manchester United), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Jess Park (Manchester City), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Keira Walsh (Barcelona)

FORWARDS: Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Lauren James (Chelsea), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Alessia Russo (Arsenal)