Wiegman “wants to continue” with a squad of 23 rather than 25 players as the Lionesses begin preparations for the 2027 World Cup, having experimented a little in last year’s friendlies.

The chop means Liverpool captain Grace Fisk and London City Lionesses defender Poppy Pattinson are not included.

“What they have brought is really positive, but at the moment there’s some players in front of them,” Wiegman explained.

England face world champions Spain at Wembley on Tuesday, 14 April (19:00 BST), before travelling to Iceland on Saturday, 18 April (17:30 BST).

With two wins from their opening matches against Iceland and Ukraine in March, Wiegman hopes they continue to build momentum.

“We had a very good camp in February and March. The team was in a very good place and there was a lot of energy,” she said.

“We really stepped up in the final third and in taking out the counter-attacks. That’s risky and how the game develops, the opponent is always getting one or two chances, but we made huge steps forward in that.

“There was a lot of fun and excitement. Hopefully we can bring that to these games too.”

England and Spain are expected to battle for top spot in their group, with only one automatic qualification place up for grabs.

But Wiegman says England cannot write-off opponents Ukraine and Iceland.

“We know where we are, and we know where Spain are. There has been a lot of talk about Spain but I think in this group we have seen we were 0-0 at half-time against Ukraine – that was a hard one – and Iceland were tough too,” added Wiegman.

“We have to beat those opponents and we want to beat Spain too. We want to qualify for the World Cup as quickly as possible.

“You have to get good results against Spain but also win every other game. It’s a challenge and we know that.

“We know the levels of Spain but they are also very aware of our level. The noise… it’s excitement.”