Steph Houghton: 'I’m not taking my place in the England squad for granted'

It’s been a tough season for an injury-plagued Steph Houghton, but the Manchester City defender finally has reason to smile. 

Houghton was among the 28 players selected for England’s provisional squad for Euro 2022, returning to the national team set-up for the first time since September.

With the squad set to be cut to 23 players in mid-June, however, the 34-year-old faces a race against time to prove her fitness. 

“Playing for my country is something that I absolutely love doing, and you can never take it for granted,” Houghton told GiveMeSport Women. 

“So it’s a step in the right direction. It’s a long way to go in terms of selection, but I’m grateful to be given the opportunity to prove myself over the next couple of weeks.

“There’s a lot of hard work to be done, and for me, it’s just about showing that I can still produce the level of quality that I believe I can at the highest level. The only way I can do that is in training and playing against the girls that I’m competing against.

“It’s been a tough few months, but there’s some light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully I can continue the way that I’ve been going.”

Euro 2022 will be held across nine cities across England, with the hosts considered one of the favourites to win the tournament. 

The Lionesses will certainly benefit from the home advantage, particularly because they will be playing in front of sell-out crowds at Old Trafford, St Mary’s Stadium and the Amex Stadium.

“I think we’ve got to use home advantage as much as we possibly can,” Houghton agreed. “The amount of people that are coming to watch England play – it’s going to be pretty special. 

“The team’s been in brilliant form over the last six, seven months, and everybody can get excited about