'It's not feasible for me to be my best' - Beth Mead admits Lionesses World Cup squad omission was a 'clever decision' from Sarina Wiegman

• Mead omitted from England's World Cup squad
• Backed coach Wiegman's decision
• Suffered an injury while playing for Arsenal in 2022

WHAT HAPPENED? Mead has remained out of action since suffering an injury in November last year and due to lack of game time this season, the Arsenal striker was omitted from England's Women's World Cup squad 2023.

The 28-year-old was not too disappointed with her omission and rather backed coach Wiegman's decision not to include her in the squad as she would not have been able to give her best at the tournament.

WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking at the WePlayStrong event, Mead said, "She (Wiegman) spoke to me two or three weeks ago and as much as we’d both love for me to go, I think a decision for what I put forward was that I want to play my best football, which right now I probably won’t because I’ve not had the opportunity to play enough minutes.

"As a player that is tough, because if I had gone, people would have expected me to be at my best level and probably right now it’s not feasible for me to do that. Sarina laid it out, I’m in her future plans; she wants me fit, she doesn’t want to risk me at a certain level and for my ACL to go again, because I’m at a higher risk to do it again."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: She added, "So I think it was a clever decision in the end. I’ve gone in with quite a level head through the whole process, kept in regular contact with Sarina and if I’m given one per cent of hope I’ll be motivated to try and get as close to that as possible because that’s the type of person I am. Now that’s gone I’m going to be number one fan for England and I’ll be rooting for them every step of the way."

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT FOR BEATH MEAD? The Arsenal star will now focus on the final stages of her recovery and hope to have a strong start to the 2023/24 season for her club.