Neville believes his players can enjoy a successful World Cup in France
Friday 31 May 2019 10:44, UK
Phil Neville has revealed Izzy Christiansen missed out on a place in England Women's World Cup squad due to the impressive form of other players rather than fitness concerns.
The Lyon midfielder had surgery on an ankle injury sustained in the SheBelieves Cup victory over Japan in March and had been attempting to recover in time to make the place to France in June.
In the end her efforts were in vain as Neville decided to stick with the players who had performed so well in her absence and the Lionesses boss admitted it was a difficult decision to leave her out of his 23-woman squad.
"Izzy was disappointed, devastated, as you can imagine," said Neville. "I don't think I have seen a player work as hard as she has to try and get fit for the World Cup.
"She's done everything we've asked oi her, she's virtually lived at St George's Park this past eight weeks.
"She would have been fit enough to go the World Cup and the selection for Izzy was purely based on performances of the other players who have taken their chance in midfield.
"It was a tough decision but Izzy wished us all the best yesterday, she's going to play a part of England for the next five, 10 years because she's such a talented player.
"I can't thank her enough for her commitment, desire and performance levels - it was just a performance decision."
Having finished third at the last World Cup in Canada, as well as defeating Brazil and Japan and drawing with hosts USA on their way to winning the SheBelieves Cup, England are among the favourites to lift the World Cup this summer.
Neville admits confidence is high in the squad and is confident they can do themselves justice when they take on Scotland, Argentina and Japan in Group D of the competition.
"Since I've got the job, I don't think I've shied away from the expectations and ambition of this team," he added.
"I sit here today in a position where I am absolutely convinced we can go to this World Cup and have a good, successful tournament.
"We have got a squad that is highly motivated and is full of world class players. We've got a squad that has the belief and confidence to go to a World Cup to be successful.
"That gives me great confidence as a manager."
The squad was announced player-by-player over the course of Wednesday morning, a novel approach that ensured a sense of anticipation was maintained, with each player given a moment in the spotlight as their name was revealed.
"I've got to, say even though I knew the squad I was waiting every few minutes for the next one to come out to see who was going to be unveiled," he said.
"We wanted to make sure it was special for every single one of those players and to make those girls visible to everyone around the world.
"I thought it was really special and I know speaking to a lot of the players they felt really special and they felt it was a big moment in their life."
England open their World Cup campaign against Scotland in Nice on June 9.
