England v South Africa: women’s international friendly – live

Sarina Wiegman speaks to ITV. “We have two friendlies … we’re getting ready for the Euros next summer … it’s an opportunity to try out lots of things … to see many players … that’s what we’re going to see tonight … everyone has a point to prove every night … you want to show consistency … tonight [Mary Earps] is going to do that … [Jessica Naz] is very quick … we want to get runs behind and be a danger for the opponent … we have many players playing well for their club … it’s an opportunity for players to show themselves at international level.”

England ring the changes after the Germany match – as expected, with experimentation in mind. Only three players keep their starting place: Georgia Stanway, Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson. There’s plenty of new blood in the team, in the shape of Spurs forward Jessica Naz (who has just two caps to her name and makes her first start), Manchester United midfielder Grace Clinton (three caps) and United defender Maya Le Tissier (five caps), while on the bench, Chelsea striker Aggie Beever-Jones hopes to add to her single cap, while Aston Villa defender Lucy Parker waits to make her debut.

England: Earps, Le Tissier, Morgan, Williamson, Greenwood, Park, Clinton, Stanway, Naz, Kelly, Mead.
Subs: Moorhouse, Hampton, Bronze, Bright, Carter, Parker, Walsh, Toone, Kirby, Russo, Hemp, Beever-Jones.

South Africa: Swart, Kgatlana, Dhlamini, Mbane, Makhubela, Magaia, Ramalepe, Cesane, Motau, Motlhalo.
Subs: Dlamini, Magagula, Manenhela, Mhlongo, S Shamase, T Shamase, Mthandi, Holweni, Biyana, Michael, Majiya.

The reigning champions of Europe take on the reigning champions of Africa at the CBS Arena in Coventry tonight. It’s a heavyweight clash, though both sides have some heavy weights on their mind: England’s first run-out of the autumn saw them concede three goals in less than 30 minutes against Germany at Wembley last weekend, and though Sarina Wiegman’s side rallied to limit the final damage to a 4-3 defeat, a loss is a loss is a loss. Desiree Ellis’s Banyana Banyana are also coming off the back of a lopsided game, having held Denmark to a goalless first half in Aalborg last Friday, only to ship five goals in the second half. So both teams will be looking to bounce back, though the hosts are realistically the more likely to do so: England are currently ranked second in the world, while South Africa are 50th in Fifa’s official list.

Wiegman is expected to experiment, all the while gaining knowledge against the “different style” of tonight’s opponents. “It will be a little different from the Euros but later on in our journey, towards the World Cup, I think this is great to play a team like South Africa,” says Wiegman. “That will be another learning moment for us. Can we dictate the game?” We’ll begin to find out at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on!