Ella Toone scored twice and Lauren James made her return from injury as England thrashed Jamaica 7-0 in their final warm-up game before the Women’s Euros.
Toone’s first-half double, either side of a Lucy Bronze header, was followed up by second-half strikes from Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo, Aggie Beever-Jones and Beth Mead as the Lionesses cruised to victory in their first meeting with the Reggae Girlz.
With crucial minutes now in the bank, all eyes will turn to their all-important Euros opener with France on Saturday in Switzerland, where they will be defending their crown.
The England Women team line up for a photo ahead of their friendly with Jamaica
England started brightly, with Stanway coming close from distance in the opening stages. It was Toone though who broke the deadlock with a near identical effort to Stanway, which this time evaded the diving Liya Brooks.
The hosts continued the pressure without reward, but were almost left shell-shocked by Jamaica’s first attack of the game.
A quick breakaway led to a corner which was played low and found Kayla McKenna breaking free from Alex Greenwood and converting past Hannah Hampton to find what the Reggae Girlz thought was their first-ever goal against England.
Blushes were spared though as VAR came to the rescue and deemed Kiki Van Zanten, who won the initial corner to begin with, was blocking Hampton’s view in an offside position.
It seemed to give the Lionesses a wake-up call, as they doubled their lead shortly after the half-hour mark. Jess Carter found fellow full-back Bronze with a delightful cross as the full-back headed home clinically.
Both Lauren Hemp and Russo were denied by the upright before Toone stepped up again to find a third on the stroke of half-time, taking advantage of some poor Jamaica defending to find the far corner off the inside of the post.
The second half brought a slower start, but Stanway notched England’s fourth with a powerful effort from inside the 18-yard box. This was followed by the biggest cheers of the afternoon as Lauren James made her way off the bench for her first minutes since picking up an injury in April.
Alessia Russo celebrates with Lauren James after scoring England’s fifth goal against Jamaica
It did not take long for the Chelsea star to make an impact, as within 10 minutes of her introduction, she found Russo waiting eagerly at the back post, with the Arsenal striker grabbing her customary goal with a straightforward header inside the six-yard box.
Substitute Beever-Jones got in on the act to grab the hosts sixth of the evening before Mead, who shook off an injury scare, added a seventh to round off a routine victory ahead of far bigger tests on the horizon.
Aggie Beever-Jones celebrates after putting England 6-0 up against Jamaica
Wiegman: ‘We saw what we needed to see’
England boss Sarina Wiegman speaking to ITV:
“I thought it was a good performance. We expected to be in the final third a lot, so to score seven goals was nice. We could still be more composed in moments and make an extra pass, but we are pleased.
“I think what we wanted to see, we saw. We can also make tactical choices but everyone is in good form. I think we have many players who can play the No 10. That’s what we saw today.
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Sarina Wiegman believes the demands of the women’s game have increased, which brings both positives and negatives for the players
“I feel good. I’m excited about the team. We’ve had two weeks of training and you can feel the vibe in the team that we want to go to the Euros. Let’s go get ready for France. I am excited.
“It’s hard to say [how this squad compares to previous ones]. I’ve been involved in many tournaments. You prepare for the best and think ‘what do we need for every scenario?’ and adapt to everything in front of you and make big decisions. There are plenty of options in this squad so we have some big decisions.”
Stanway: ‘Very good performance’
England midfielder Georgia Stanway speaking to ITV:
“I had a few chances so I tried to make one of them count. It was a nice day. As a whole the performance was very good.
“It’s been a lot of work. I didn’t expect to be having surgery at the end of January. Maybe it was for a reason. It sounds cliched but I feel fit and fresh.”
