ENGLAND captain Steph Houghton has withdrawn from the squad ahead of tomorrow’s friendly against Spain due to a groin issue, the Football Association have announced.

The FA said the defender felt “mild groin pain” following the 1-0 loss to Canada on Friday and had returned to her club Manchester City, with the decision having been made to “rest her in order to manage her load” ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

Houghton, who has played 104 times for the Lionesses, scoring 12 goals, is the second player to have pulled out of the squad boss Phil Neville named for the Canada and Spain fixtures, with Fran Kirby having done so early last week because of a knee problem.