by Adam Millington 

WEMBLEY STADIUM awaits Sarina Weigman’s Lionesses as they take on Northern Ireland in their quest for World Cup qualification on Saturday.

A lot has changed since the last occasion these sides met in February earlier this year. That fixture was England’s first since the pandemic began, played behind closed doors at St George’s Park and available only to viewers via a BBC Red Button stream marred by a camera which swayed in the wind and a broadcast which regularly cut out.

This time could not be more different. Only the third women’s international at the new Wembley, it is the first time England will have staged a competitive fixture there since it opened in 2007.