This time last year Lauren James could only dream of playing for England.
Her first season with Chelsea saw the forward play just 107 minutes of football in the Women’s Super League in six substitute appearances. James had suffered multiple injuries before joining the Blues from Manchester United and manager Emma Hayes decided she needed a year to fully recover and build up her strength again.
The forward was watching on in the stands as the Lionesses were crowned European champions at Wembley last summer. Just over a month later, James got an unexpected call from manager Sarina Wiegman.