'Not something I'm used to' - Mary Earps sends message to England fans after being forced to withdraw from Lionesses squad

Earps was forced off after just seven minutes in England's first of two 2025 European Championship qualifiers against France. On what was her 50th international cap, the goalkeeper went down in the opening stages of the 2-1 defeat with a sore hip and the injury has forced her to withdraw from the squad. She has been replaced by the uncapped Lucy Thomas.

Posting on Instagram, Earps said: "Not the way the big 5-OH was meant to go, but grateful and hugely proud to have reached 50 caps for England. Thank you for your lovely messages 💜 gutted that I’ve picked up a minor hip injury which will sideline me for a couple of weeks. Not something I’m used to but nothing a little bit of R&R won’t fix 💪🏼 right behind the girls for Tuesday!"

In reaching a half century of caps for the Lionesses, Earps has established herself as one of the best players in the world, central to the success England have had in recent years. She was key to the team that won the European Championships in 2022 and saved a penalty in the World Cup final the following year. Earps will be a major loss for Sarina Wiegman who will be hoping she won't be without her shot-stopper for too long.

England return to action on Tuesday as they look to bounce back immediately from defeat in Newcastle by beating their same opponents in Saint-Etienne. England sit third in their qualifying group and play their final qualification games against second-placed Sweden and bottom-of-the-group Ireland next month.