England vs Austria LIVE: Latest score and updates as Alessia Russo ...

England take on Austria in an international women’s friendly match as part of their February training camp.

The Lionesses have two friendlies in Marbella, against Austria and Italy as part of the international break, but it is a schedule that offers little relief to burnt out players, despite the national side having missed out on qualification for the Paris Olympics this summer.

Sarina Wiegman’s side were dealt a blow ahead of the matches. Euro 2021-winning captain Leah Williamson had been called up for the first time following her nine-month recovery from her anterior cruciate ligament rupture. Her much-anticipated return had to be pushed back after she sustained what has been described as a minor hamstring injury.

The England manager recently signed a contract extension with the Football Association until 2027, and this will mark the start of her new cycle although without a tournament on the horizon, the matches themselves do not count for anything significant.

Follow all the live updates in the blog below and get the latest odds and tips here.

England vs Austria

• GOAL! Mead extends the Lionesses’ lead - England 3-1 Austria

• GOAL! Kirchberger pulls one back! England 2-1 Austria

• GOAL! Clinton scores on debut! England 2-0 Austria

• GOAL! Russo puts the LIonesses ahead - England 1-0 Austria

• England XI: Hampton, Le Tissier, Charles, Stanway, Morgan, Greenwood, Mead, Clinton, Russo, Kirby, Hemp.

England 3-1 Austria

20:58 , Sonia Twigg

Chance! 53 mins: Le Tissier this time with a header and Zinsberger had to be alert in the Austria net to palm the ball away for another corner.

The second header from the subsequent corner is also goalwards, but a more straightforward hold from the goalkeeper from Wubben-Moy.

England 3-1 Austria

20:56 , Sonia Twigg

50 mins: Chance! Toone almost adds a fourth for England, it was a great run from Stanway and the ball came back to Toone who just tried to poke the ball goalwards, but it was just outside the far post.

England 3-1 Austria

20:53 , Sonia Twigg

48 mins: Can Austria find a way back into this match, and can they stop England just playing how they have been and scoring more goals as the match continues.

There is nothing riding on this match in particular, it is a friendly, but there are European qualifiers coming up soon.

England 3-1 Austria

20:51 , Sonia Twigg

46 mins: The second half is underway and there will be a few changes for England at half time, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Lauren James have come on for Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp.

HT: England 3-1 Austria

20:40 , Sonia Twigg

It has been a good half for the Lionesses:

Half time: England 3-1 Austria

20:36 , Sonia Twigg

Half time: Well it has been an entertaining half of football, most of which has gone England’s way.

Alessia Russo has caused problems all evening, and what a way for Clinton to celebrate her debut with a goal, while it is good to see Beth Mead back on form following her recent injury issues.

England 3-1 Austria

20:34 , Sonia Twigg

45+3 mins: England have to be alert at the back to cut out a good cross from the left hand side, there has not been too much of that so far in this match.

England 3-1 Austria

20:33 , Sonia Twigg

45 mins: There will be four minutes of added time.

England 3-1 Austria

20:30 , Sonia Twigg

44 mins: England have been completely dominant in this half and are closing in on being able to go into the break with a healthy advantage.

England 3-1 Austria

20:26 , Sonia Twigg

40 mins: England almost have another!

Greenwood’s corner finds Stanway, who tries to hit the ball towards the goal but it is blocked and after a ricochet flies behind for a goal kick.

GOAL! Mead extends the Lionesses’ lead - England 3-1 Austria

20:23 , Sonia Twigg

GOAL! 36 mins: Mead scores to extend England’s lead!

Russo had fluffed a shot earlier in the move, but Austria could not clear and the ball fell to Mead who curled the ball into the top corner.

England 2-1 Austria

20:20 , Sonia Twigg

34 mins: Russo is full of confidence and decides to launch a shot from distance, it was slightly awkward for the goalkeeper in the rain, but she managed to hold on to the ball on this occasion, after her error for the first goal of the game.

England 2-1 Austria

20:18 , Sonia Twigg

32 mins: Toone has a chance to re-establish England’s two-goal lead, but this time it was straight at the goalkeeper.

GOAL! Kirchberger pulls one back! England 2-1 Austria

20:17 , Sonia Twigg

30 mins: GOAL! Kirchberger makes the most of some slightly lacklustre England defending to head the ball home and pull one back for the Austrians.

England 2-0 Austria

20:14 , Sonia Twigg

28 mins: Clinton has made herself known on debut! That was a heavy challenge just outside the Austria box and they will rightly have a free kick.

The fans are abandoning their seats in favour of shelter as the rain starts to fall hard.

England 2-0 Austria

20:13 , Sonia Twigg

27 mins: That time Charles when trying to get forward did concede a free kick and it gives Austria a chance to mount an attack of their own.

England 2-0 Austria

20:11 , Sonia Twigg

25 mins: Russo is chasing down absolutely everything and putting a lot of pressure on the Austria defence, who ahve conceded twice already.

England 2-0 Austria

20:09 , Sonia Twigg

23 mins: When Austria have got forward, their decision-making has been questionable at best, as another attempt has just blazed far over the bar.

GOAL! Clinton scores on debut! England 2-0 Austria

20:05 , Sonia Twigg

19 mins: GOAL! Clinton has her goal on debut!

Having just seen one rebound off the woodwork, Clinton was in the right position to capitalise on some poor defending to head a Lauren Hemp cross into the back of the net.

England 1-0 Austria

20:03 , Sonia Twigg

17 mins: As the rain has started to fall in Spain, the match has not got off to the most electric start, but England have been by far the more promising.

England 1-0 Austria

20:01 , Sonia Twigg

15 mins: Chance! Grace Clinton came so close to a goal on debut, she struck the ball from the edge of the box, but the ball rebounded back off the woodwork.

England 1-0 Austria

19:59 , Sonia Twigg

13 mins: Austria are just trying to find their feet in this match after going behind early, but a ball through the middle that briefly threatened to be promising was easily gathered by Hampton.

England 1-0 Austria

19:57 , Sonia Twigg

11 mins: Just a quick reminder that Chelsea’s Fran Kirby was injured in the pre-match warm up, after the teams were announced and has been replaced by Ella Toone.

England 1-0 Austria

19:56 , Sonia Twigg

11 mins: England have a corner, but Austria are able to clear their lines this time.

England 1-0 Austria

19:55 , Sonia Twigg

9 mins: Hampton is equal to her first test of the match, it was a lofted free kick into the area and the England goalkeeper jumped high above her defenders to take the catch.

England 1-0 Austria

19:55 , Sonia Twigg

8 mins: England have kept on the pressure and most of the possession, but it was really a goalkeeping error that allowed them to take the early lead.

GOAL! Russo puts the LIonesses ahead - England 1-0 Austria

19:50 , Sonia Twigg

4 mins: GOAL! Beth Mead makes a run down the right and forces the goalkeeper to palm it away, but none of the defenders can clear it or put it behind and Russo is just in the right place to fire the ball home.

England 0-0 Austria

19:48 , Sonia Twigg

2 mins: England have been content to play the ball around so far, but have already got into good areas, led by Alessia Russo who is leading the line for the Lionesses.

England 0-0 Austria

19:46 , Sonia Twigg

1 min: Austria get the game underway after both sets of players took the knee.

England vs Austria

19:41 , Sonia Twigg

After all that build up, kick off is just moments away, but first it’s time for the national anthems.

England vs Austria

19:35 , Sonia Twigg

Karen Carney was saying on ITV commentary that Hannah Hampton is good enough with her feet to play outfield, and that she has done so before for Chelsea in training, it’s always good to get an insider’s insight into young players.

England vs Austria

19:32 , Sonia Twigg

The match will get under way in less than 15 minutes’ time.

England vs Austria

19:25 , Sonia Twigg

Less than half an hour to go now until kick off, and there is an expected crowd of 700 for the match in Spain.

It is a far cry from what the Lionesses have become accustomed to in recent years, but the nature of the match as a friendly and taking place on neutral ground will have had a big affect on ticket sales.

The players have arrived at the stadium

19:15 , Sonia Twigg

Here are some photos of the players arriving at the stadium:

Lionesses training

19:00 , Sonia Twigg

Here are some photos from the Lionesses training sessions in Spain:

England team

18:52 , Sonia Twigg

Sarina Wiegman has handed a debut to midfielder Grace Clinton, while Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton starts in place of the England number one and Sports Personality of the Year winner Mary Earps.

Alex Greenwood will captain the side, while Lucy Bronze and Kiera Walsh were among the substitutes.

England team

18:51 , Sonia Twigg

England XI: Hampton, Le Tissier, Charles, Stanway, Morgan, Greenwood, Mead, Clinton, Russo, Kirby, Hemp.

Subs: Carter, Keating, Toone, Wubben-Moy, James, Bronze, Walsh, Daly, Park, Earps, Turner, Beeves-Jones.

England vs Austria

18:40 , Sonia Twigg

The teams will be announced shortly, will Wiegman take the opportunity to rotate her side, or stand by the players who she has built her side around for the last few years?

Sarina Wiegman continued

18:30 , Sonia Twigg

“The issue of injuries is a bigger picture and it’s about the load on the players. The calendar we talk about a lot, that we really have to address the calendar. I spoke up about that last week - we really ask FIFA and UEFA to change things.

“But we are doing a job as good as possible with all the expertise we have in our team and staff. We have a programme and we monitor the players really well.

“You’re in an environment where an injury can happen because it’s a physical sport, but if you can diminish the risk of injuries as much as possible, that’s also what we try to do.”

Sarina Wiegman on the demands on players

18:15 , Sonia Twigg

Asked if club coaches had requested a limit on player minutes amid a three-way Women’s Super League title race and a spate of high-profile injuries, Wiegman said: “Not this time.

“We are in contact with each other all the time, we update each other and of course we know how important the Women’s Super League is too but also the German League for Georgia [Stanway] and the Spanish league for the players who play in Spain at the moment.

“Of course, we want to take care of the players but we want to do lots of things. We play to win but we also have the opportunity now to try out things and also manage minutes. With a busy calendar I think that’s something to be aware of.”

Squad update

18:10 , Sonia Twigg

A small squad update ahead of the game tonight: Aggie Beever-Jones has joined the seniors from the under-23s for the first time.

Sarina Wiegman spoke ahead of the match

18:00 , Sonia Twigg

“This is really the start of our Euros campaign and after the very disappointing result of not qualifying for the play-offs to qualify for the Olympics we moved on,” said Wiegman ahead of the match.

“This is the start, with two friendlies which is really good for us because we can try out some things.

“We are also very close to the Under-23s [also training in Spain] so we can see them, we can connect with them and we get a lot of players that we can see where they are at this moment.

“This is a great start because in April the Nations League starts which are the qualifiers for the Euros.”

Sarina Wiegman insists Lionesses have left previous heartbreak behind them

17:30 , Sonia Twigg

England head coach Sarina Wiegman believes her side have “moved on” from the heartbreak of missing out on Olympic qualification.

The Lionesses face Austria on Friday and Italy next Tuesday in a pair of friendlies which have replaced what they hoped would be Nations League semi-finals.

A 6-0 thrashing of Scotland looked to have secured top spot in Group A1 in December, only for the Netherlands to score twice in added time against Belgium to pip England on goal difference and end Team GB’s hopes of qualifying for Paris 2024.

Leah Williamson out of England squad after injury setback

17:00 , Sonia Twigg

Leah Williamson has withdrawn from her first England women squad since last April due to injury, with Millie Turner called up in place of the Euro 2022-winning captain.

Arsenal described the 26-year-old’s problem as a “minor hamstring injury” ahead of Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United, less than a month after Williamson returned to action for the Gunners following a nine-month recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament rupture.

Leah Williamson out of England squad after injury setback

When is England vs Austria and how can I watch it?

16:30 , Sonia Twigg

England Women are back in action on Friday for the first time since December when they take on Austria in Spain as attention turns towards building a new team capable of winning Euro 2025.

The likes of Mary Earps and Rachel Daly return to a squad with a familiar feel. Head coach Sarina Wiegman has opted not to bring any newcomers into the group for this training camp in Spain.

Is England v Austria on TV? Channel and how to watch the Lionesses

England vs Austria

14:42 , Sonia Twigg

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of England vs Austria, the first of two international friendly matches the Lionesses will play in Spain.