Hope Powell has named 22 players to take on France later this month

France v England
A Women’s International
7.50pm BST, Saturday 20 October 2012
Charlety Stadium, Paris

Hope Powell has named her England Women’s squad to take on France in Paris later this month.

This will be the Three Lions’ first outing since they qualified for Euro 2013 by beating Croatia in September.

Ellen White has been recalled after the striker missed the Croatia game through suspension, while Kelly Smith, who was forced to withdraw from the last squad, also returns to the fold.

Everton’s Toni Duggan keeps her place after making her debut last time out and Arsenal midfielder Jordan Nobbs will get another chance to impress.

France knocked England out of the 2011 World Cup, they are ranked fifth in the world and they finished fourth at London 2012, and Powell is expecting a challenging encounter.

The National Coach said: “This is a really good test for us to end the year.

“It is the first match of our European Championship preparations and it will set the tone for the next nine months.

“We need to test ourselves against the best teams on the continent and France are top class opposition. That said, they were quite keen to play us, too.

“They are a rapidly improving team. They have made really good progress since the last World Cup and this is just the sort of game we need to see where we are at.”

The draw for the European Championship Finals will take place on Friday 9 November.

Squad in full

Goalkeepers
Karen Bardsley (Linköping), Rachel Brown (Everton), Siobhan Chamberlain (Bristol Academy)
Defenders
Laura Bassett (Birmingham City), Sophie Bradley (Lincoln Ladies), Steph Houghton (Arsenal), Claire Rafferty (Chelsea), Alex Scott (Arsenal), Casey Stoney (Lincoln Ladies), Dunia Susi (Chelsea).
Midfielders
Anita Asante (Göteborg), Jess Clarke (Lincoln Ladies), Karen Carney (Birmingham City), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Jill Scott (Everton), Fara Williams (Everton), Rachel Yankey (Arsenal).
Forwards
Eniola Aluko (Birmingham City), Toni Duggan (Everton), Kelly Smith (Arsenal), Rachel Williams (Birmingham City), Ellen White (Arsenal).