by Our Sports Desk

Head coach Mark Sampson set England Women the target of winning the World Cup yesterday after naming his 23-player squad for the upcoming tournament in Canada.

There was strong competition particularly among his strikers and Sampson could not find space for Liverpool striker Natasha Dowie as he selected six front-line players in Eni Aluko, Toni Duggan, Jodie Taylor, Fran Kirby, Lianne Sanderson and Ellen White.

England qualified for the tournament with a 100 per cent record in qualifying but struggled in high-profile friendlies against Germany and the United States, losing 3-0 and 1-0 respectively.

But despite that, Sampson feels he has selected a squad worthy of winning the World Cup.

He said: “This is a hugely exciting time for all the staff and players. We’re ranked sixth in the world, we are a good team and we’ve got some exceptional players. We’ve got a very compact, resolute unit and we’ve got a real togetherness in the group so we’ll certainly be a difficult opponent for anyone in Canada.

“I think as a group of staff we’re very clear about the direction we want to take the team in during the tournament and hopefully the players can pull together.

“With this group in particular we have a large number of players who have performed very well and contributed to get this team to where it is now.

“The ambition is to go to Canada and win the competition but we’ve got to treat every game like a final.”

England captain Steph Houghton said: “We’ve all worked so hard to get here. We can’t wait to get started.”

There are eight World Cup newcomers in the squad, namely Lucy Bronze, Duggan, Kirby, Alex Greenwood, Jade Moore, vice-captain Jordan Nobbs, Jo Potter and Taylor.

However contrastingly eight players will be competing at a World Cup for the third time, in Siobhan Chamberlain, Alex Scott, former captain Casey Stoney, Jill Scott, Fara Williams, Aluko, Karen Carney and Katie Chapman.

Chapman is included after being recently recalled from the international wilderness by Sampson, having been frozen out, as Sanderson also was, after a breakdown in her relationship with former boss Hope Powell.

England begin their campaign against France in Moncton on June 9, before tackling Mexico in the same city four days later and ending their Group F campaign in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium against Colombia on June 17.

Sampson’s previously stated aim was to reach at least the semi-finals, which is further than England, three times quarter-finalists, have ever gone before.