Lauren James shines during England’s comfortable win against South Korea

Lauren James’s electric form was rewarded with a first goal for England in a 4-0 defeat of South Korea in the Arnold Clark Cup to continue Sarina Wiegman’s unbeaten run as the Lionesses’ manager.

At Stadium MK, it took England 40 minutes to find a way past the banks of red but Georgia Stanway’s penalty broke the deadlock shortly before half-time and goals from Chloe Kelly, Alessia Russo and James in the second half ensured a stylish win to kickstart the European champions’ year.

The team news delivered a surprise, albeit a familiar one, with Leah Williamson shifted from centre-back into the midfield to compensate for the loss of the influential Keira Walsh, who was ruled out with a stomach bug. Wiegman has played the captain further forward before. In the run-up to the Euros last summer Williamson played alongside Walsh in a double pivot several times, but for the tournament itself the manager reverted to a centre-back pairing of Millie Bright and Williamson behind Walsh.

Wiegman had said before that tournament that her captain had not felt totally comfortable in the middle, but if the team’s first outing at the Arnold Clark Cup is anything to go by, she clearly still views Williamson as one of the best options to act as a back-up for Walsh.

The rest of the XI was as close to Wiegman’s first-choice starting side at the Euros as it could be, with Russo and Toone in place of the retired Ellen White and the injured Fran Kirby, James taking the injured Beth Mead’s place, Chloe Kelly preferred to Lauren Hemp and Jess Carter filling in for Williamson alongside Bright. Wiegman had promised rotation, but equally the manager was keen to get off to a strong start in defence of the Arnold Clark Cup and restart their World Cup