Gravesend's Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs tipped to excel on long-awaited return to the England Lionesses fold for Arnold Clark Cup

Laura Coombs has been backed to translate her red-hot Manchester City form onto the international stage after securing a shock return to the England fold.

The Gravesend-born star, 32, made her last international appearance back in 2015 and would be forgiven for assuming that her Lionesses career was over.

But the City midfielder was recently unveiled as a surprise selection in Sarina Wiegman's squad, joining Maidstone-born striker Alessia Russo and the other stars of England's Women's Euros triumph for the Arnold Clark Cup, a four-team invitational tournament featuring South Korea, Italy and Belgium.

England get the event under way tonight (Thursday) against South Korea at Stadium MK, kick-off 7.45pm.

Lionesses legend Fara Williams, who racked up a record 172 caps between 2001 and 2019, believes Coombs’ consistency held the key to her return and says her crucial experience can help England defend the trophy they won last year.

The 39-year-old said: "Given the fact that England need more midfielders and Laura Coombs has been one of the most consistent performers off the back end of last season and coming into now, her selection was absolutely not a surprise for me.

"I think she's somebody that was worthy of the call-up. I think what people could be surprised about it [is] that England have just won the Euros and will be looking to build for the future.

"Laura is now the oldest player in the squad so you would think they would look at a younger player instead.

"I think she's been key for Manchester City. Recently she's been coming into the game and providing some strong assists, mostly for Khadija (Bunny) Shaw.

"She has a major impact when she's playing in the game and so is warranted that opportunity to play for the