Maidstone-born Arsenal striker Alessia Russo eyeing Women’s Euros title again in Switzerland as England’s Lionesses look to defend their crown

Alessia Russo believes there’s no better feeling than securing team silverware as England’s Lionesses eye Women’s Euros glory - again.

Maidstone-born striker Russo is part of manager Sarina Wiegman’s 23-strong squad for the competition in Switzerland this summer.

It includes 13 players who made history, lifting the trophy three years ago - with Russo among them.

She will hope to have done enough to earn a starting berth for England’s opener against France tonight (kick-off 8pm).

England’s other Group D games will be against the Netherlands on Wednesday (kick-off 5pm) and Wales next Sunday (kick-off 8pm).

Russo, 26, told the UEFA website: “There’s no better feeling than winning a trophy with your team.

“The team that you’ve been on a journey with. Whether it be weeks or months or years, you have built these relationships.

"You’ve seen each other at the highest and at the lowest, and you know you’ve all worked so hard for it.

“And, when we won in 2022, that feeling when the final whistle went… I think I experienced about 10 emotions within 10 seconds! It was incredible.

“That feeling you can only get when you win something like that. It’s just one of the best feelings for myself, for the team, for the families and hopefully we can replicate that.

“Obviously, we know the standard of Europe right now is incredible, so it’s going to be really tough, but I’m definitely driven by that feeling of winning another trophy with this team.”

Russo made five appearances from the substitutes’ bench in 2022 and bagged four goals in the home tournament, helping them beat Germany 2-1 at their Wembley final.

“The success of the whole Euros, in general, was just more than we could have ever imagined,” she said.

“We went into it just being a