Aston Villa midfielder Lucy Staniforth has been called up to England Squad due to an injury sustained by Jess Park, according to a report by BBC Sport.

Park has returned to her parent club, Manchester City, due to a shoulder injury – as a result, she will be unable to partake in the upcoming preparations for the international tournament.

The call up has interrupted Staniforth’s holiday with her mother – she will be swapping the sunny beaches of Ibiza for Milton Keynes as a result of her surprise call-up.

What did Staniforth have to say about the changes to the England squad?

On being called up at the last minute, Staniforth jokingly said: “I was supposed to go to Ibiza with mum on Monday which is obviously very unfortunate. But she wasn’t bothered about Ibiza.

“She will still go on her own. If anyone sees someone on their own in Ibiza, she’s looking for a bit of company!

“I was thinking ‘oh no, what’s going on?’ I kind of thought once the first week [of England’s preparation camp] was out of the way, if there was any chance of getting brought in, it would have been then.

“I was surprised, obviously. I got her to repeat the whole tournament schedule again for me about three or four times because I just kept saying ‘sorry, when are we travelling?’ – I was so out of the loop.

“I thought my moment had passed. When [Wiegman] called I was in a really good frame of mind and I was like ‘of course I’ll come in’. I was just really glad this opportunity arose.”

Lucy Staniforth career summary

Born in York, Staniforth played for Blyth Town as a youngster before moving to Sunderland, where she made her senior debut in 2008. She went on to play for Lincoln Ladies and Bristol Academy before making the jump to Liverpool in 2014.

Her Merseyside stint was ultimately short-lived, as she returned to Sunderland in the following year. Another fruitful spell with the Black Cats led to a move to Birmingham and then Manchester United in 2020. In 2023, she joined Aston Villa, where she remains to this day.