Grace Clinton is closing in on starting for England at Euro 2025: Lionesses' winners and losers from final 2024 friendlies as youngsters impress while Chloe Kelly misses much-needed opportunity to stake her claim

This international break was Wiegman's last chance to truly experiment with her team before the Euros next summer. After the Nations League, which begins in February and will run until early June, there may be a small window for a friendly or two before the tournament, but drastic changes would surely be off the table so close to England's title defence.

Wiegman certainly made the most of this opportunity, then, trying out a flurry of different things against the U.S. and then Switzerland. In the first game, she played around at left-back, asking Jess Carter and Alex Greenwood to switch in a unique manner during the match in an attempt to find a creative solution to a stand-out problem. She also tweaked some aspects of England's shape and their press in a goalless draw with the Olympic champions.

Three days later, against the Euro 2025 hosts, Wiegman experimented in a more explosive manner, fielding an XI that showed 10 changes from the stalemate at Wembley, featured two debutantes and saw her team set up in a back three for the first time in over a year. These friendlies are for learning about different players and different combinations in different scenarios. In that sense, Wiegman collected a lot of important information in this camp which will help inform her decisions over the next seven months.

The race to be England's No.1 at Euro 2025 is by no means done or decided at this point, however this was another good camp for Mary Earps in her quest to win that battle. That's because, after the Paris Saint-Germain star was brilliant at Wembley, making a string of strong saves to keep a clean sheet against the Olympic champions, Hannah Hampton looked a little less convincing in victory over Switzerland.

It was by no means a terrible display from the Chelsea shot-stopper, with her still keeping the Euro 2025 hosts at bay in a 1-0 win, but there were some iffy moments in it. The saves she made were awkward at times, though spills were never followed up by a Switzerland player to really present danger to the Lionesses goal, while a charged down clearance fortunately bounced out for a goal-kick.

Again, there is still plenty of time to go until the Euros, but that Wiegman opted for Earps in the perceived 'bigger game', is at least another small indication that Hampton may just be behind her team-mate in this race, having seemingly led it just a few months ago.

There is a real opportunity for someone to step up in this England set-up and be the player in the squad who provides depth behind Keira Walsh in the holding midfield role. Katie Zelem, who played that role at the 2023 Women's World Cup and stepped up when Walsh was injured for the final group game against China, has faded away from Wiegman's thoughts in recent months, with the manager even going as far to say in October that she is "not in our plans" at this moment.

Enter Ruby Mace. She has been an exciting prospect in the England youth set-up for several years, but has had to wait patiently to get the game time at club level which could help her develop to the point that she could make it into the senior team. A summer move to Leicester City, after being unable to breakthrough at Manchester City, has allowed Mace to firmly move onto Wiegman's radar, earning a first call-up in this camp and, on Tuesday, her debut.

On a big night, the 21-year-old was solid. She completed 56 of her 62 passes attempted, including 10 of 14 in the final third, while also doing her job well on the other side of the ball. Mace won all three of her tackles, her only aerial duel and made three interceptions in her 63-minute run-out.

Wiegman did want to see a little more positivity from the debutante, but was quick to caveat that comment with the fact it was her first England game. There will be things Mace has to learn when it comes to what the Lionesses specifically want in that position, improvements she can make and opponents that challenge her more than Switzerland did. However, her confidence, physicality and quality in possession continues to mark her out as an impressive prospect, and in a position where England need depth.

While Wiegman will be happy with how her left-back experiment worked out on Saturday against the United States, it could be bad news for Niamh Charles. The right-footed Chelsea star, who often plays left-back for club and country, was absent from this camp due to injury and that forced her national-team coach to come up with a new solution, one which ticked a lot of boxes.

First of all, it got Greenwood, one of England's most in-form defenders but one who has struggled for minutes for her country, onto the pitch. That's important because of her quality and also her left-footedness, which the Lionesses lack whenever she does not play. By asking her to be a central option when England build out from goal-kicks, and then move to left-back while Carter takes up that position inside, helps add some balance. Greenwood also knows the left-back role from a previous chapter of her career and can play there well.

This may not be the outright solution to this left-back issue. After all, it relegated Millie Bright to a bench role she has rarely held under Wiegman, and Charles will still have a say in things before the Euros roll around. But it will be food for thought for the England coach in a role which, otherwise, Charles had been first-choice in when fit.

No place in this England team has more fierce and widespread competition than the No.10 role, with the likes of Toone, Fran Kirby, Jess Park, Grace Clinton and Laura Blindkilde Brown all players in the Lionesses' set-up that would count it as their best position. In this camp, it was Clinton who really stood up and made the strongest case to occupy it ahead of the Euros.

Park was the only player to get two starts over the two games, and though Wiegman doesn't often go out of her way to single individuals out for praise, she did exactly that with the Manchester City starlet this past week. However, there were also a lot of positive words for Clinton, after she scored her third goal in five caps on Tuesday to give England a 1-0 win over Switzerland.

"In the first half especially she felt very comfortable and players close to her felt very comfortable. That was really good to see," Wiegman said of the Manchester United star. "What I would like to see more from her is that she sees the overall picture even when the pace of the game is faster than it was tonight. You can tell she is on the way and is improving. Hopefully she keeps showing that and also [shows it] with her club."

Park may just be ahead of Clinton in the race to start in midfield at the Euros right now, but only just. There is a lot of football to be played, for club and country, until then, too, and if Clinton can continue to make impacts like that on Tuesday in Sheffield, she will remain right in the hunt for a starting role.

Predicting the England line-up for Saturday’s game against the U.S, many onlookers might’ve expected Chloe Kelly to start in the forward line, in the absence of Man City team-mate Hemp. Kelly is a player that has earned a lot of Wiegman’s trust over the last few years, she was an experienced option for a big game and she impressed when given the chance to start in the previous camp, against South Africa. That Jess Naz was given the nod ahead of her, then, will have been disappointing for a player who desperately needs game time and chances to show what she can do ahead of Euro 2025.

Kelly continues to struggle for minutes at club level this season, but remains in the mix for the Lionesses due to the “credit” she has built up with Wiegman over the last few years. However, the coach is clearly intrigued by what Naz can offer her team and the competition for those wide roles only increased a few days later, when Park caught the eye on the wing in victory over Switzerland. Kelly’s lack of a start in that second game was a different kind of disappointment, with her ruled out of the fixture due to a concussion picked up in her 15-minute cameo at Wembley at the weekend.

For someone who needs minutes, to get just a small handful across this camp and then sustain an injury which not only prevented her from adding to that in England colours, but could sideline her for Man City’s game against Leicester on Sunday, just as a space in attack was opening up following Hemp’s surgery, all made this a difficult week for Kelly.