A Successful International Duty For City's Players
- Courtney Nevin was called up for Australia
- CJ Bott joined the New Zealand camp
- Sophie Howard featured for Scotland
- Ashleigh Plumptre remains a consistent performer for Nigeria
- Georgia Eaton-Collins, Molly Pike and Ruby Mace represented England Under-23s
- Mackenzie Smith and Monique Robinson were selected for England Under-19s
- Hannah Cain, Carrie Jones and Josie Green joined up with the Wales squad
The Foxes went into the international break in good form, having picked up three big points in the Barclays Women's Super League, with a 1-0 win over Liverpool on Sunday 12 February at Prenton Park.
Over the last two weeks however, there have been 12 Leicester played in action for various countries around the globe, and here is how each of them got on before they return to Belvoir Drive...
England Under-23s – Georgia Eaton-Collins, Molly Pike, Ruby Mace
Fixtures/results
- England Under-23s 0-0 Spain (16/02/23)
- England Under-23s 4-1 Belgium (20/02/23)
There were three Leicester players flooding the Under-23s squad, with Ruby Mace, Molly Pike and Georgia Eaton-Collins all selected ahead of their two games.
Facing Spain in their first outing, midfielder Mace, on loan from Manchester City, was included in the starting XI, while Pike came on as a substitute during the international friendly. Eaton-Collins was an unused substitute, meanwhile.
Ending in a goalless draw against European opposition, the next game resulted in a 4-1 win over Belgium, and once again there were Foxes involved.
Mace was handed her second start, while Pike was once again a used substitute. Missy Bo Kearns scored their only first half goal, while Angela Addison, Anna Patten and Kiera Skeels rounded off the performance in the second half.
England Under-19s – Mackenzie Smith, Monique Robinson
Fixtures/results
- England Under-19s 1-2 Germany (16/02/23)
- England Under-19s 3-0 Switzerland (21/02/23)
There were also a couple of Foxes representing England in a younger England age group as Mackenzie Smith, and for the first time, Monique Robinson, were called up to play for their country.
In their first game, the young Lionesses were beaten 2-1 at home to Germany, with both Foxes introduced as second-half substitutes. Ilayda Acikgoz opened the scoring for the away side before Freya Godfrey levelled the scores, however the youngsters were eventually defeated due to a Paulina Bartz strike in the 81st minute.
They were victorious in their second outing days later when they defeated Switzerland 3-0. Both Robinson and Smith started for England as goals from Emily Brough, Sarah Brasero-Carreira and Lucia Kendall, from the penalty spot, confirmed victory.
Australia – Courtney Nevin
Fixtures/results
- Australia 4-0 Czech Republic (15/02/23)
- Australia 3-2 Spain (19/02/23)
- Australia 3-0 Jamaica (22/02/23)
New signing Courtney Nevin was selected to play for her home nation, Australia, with three wins recorded in the space of a week.
Starting with a home tie against Czech Republic on Thursday morning, the hosts came out 4-0 victors, after a brace from Hayley Raso, and goals from Sam Kerr and Clare Polkinghorne rounded off the scoring. Nevin was an unused substitute in the win, but her involvement grew with each game.
Nevin was a second-half substitute in her side's 3-2 win over Spain as Arsenal's Caitlin Foord was among the goals, and in the final fixture, City's January signing played a full 90 minutes in the 3-0 win over Jamaica, as Australia won the Cup of Nations.
New Zealand – CJ Bott
Fixtures/results
- New Zealand 0-5 Portugal (17/02/23)
- New Zealand 0-2 Argentina (20/02/23)
- New Zealand 0-1 Argentina (23/02/23)
Just across the water from Australia, City's right sided full-back CJ Bott was in action for New Zealand, as they had three games to play, starting with a home fixture against Portugal on Friday.
Bott played the full 90 minutes in their heavy 5-0 defeat to Portugal, before they faced Argentina twice. The right-back did not feature in either match against the South American side as they lost 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.
Scotland – Sophie Howard
Fixtures/results
- Iceland 2-0 Scotland (15/02/23)
- Scotland 2-1 Philippines (18/02/23)
- Scotland 1-1 Wales (21/02/23)
Closer to home, Sophie Howard represented Scotland in the Pinatar Cup and started off with a 2-0 defeat to Iceland, in which striker Olof Kristinsdottir scored in the 50th and 51st minute respectively.
Following the loss, Scotland had two home fixtures; first one against the Philippines in which the defender failed to feature before finishing with a match-up against Wales.
In a 1-1 draw, City's No.15 played the full game and found the net with a header from a corner. Arriving at the back post, Howard beat her player before heading home with a diving header past Olivia Clark.
Nigeria – Ashleigh Plumptre
Fixtures/results
- Mexico 1-0 Nigeria (15/02/23)
- Colombia 1-0 Nigeria (18/02/23)
- Nigeria 1-0 Costa Rica (21/02/23)
Fan favourite Ashleigh Plumptre was called up to represent the Super Falcons for their international matches, which began with a 1-0 loss to Mexico on Wednesday evening.
Kiana Palacios scored the only goal of the match in which the centre-back played a full 90 minutes and did so again when her side lost 1-0 in a narrow defeat to Colombia.
In the final match, Nigeria picked up their first win of the break as Esther Okoronkwo scored right before the interval. Plumptre was an unused substitute in the victory.
Wales – Hannah Cain, Carrie Jones, Josie Green
Fixtures/results
- Wales 1-0 Philippines (15/02/23)
- Wales 0-0 Iceland (18/02/23)
- Scotland 1-1 Wales (21/02/23)
The final trio to round off the national representatives, Hannah Cain, Carrie Jones and Josie Green were all called up to play for Wales.
In their first game, the Dragons beat Philippines 1-0, as a penalty was converted in the 45th minute by Brighton & Hove Albion player Kayleigh Green.
Carrie Jones was the only Fox to start the game and was replaced by Cain, who made her first international appearance since recovering from her ACL injury, while Green was an unused substitute.
The same two City players were utilised in their next game, a goalless draw with Iceland, as both made substitute appearances.
In their final fixture against Scotland, in which Leicester team-mate Howard opened the scoring, Cain played a part in Wales' equaliser which was finished off by Ceri Holland. Green also made her first appearance of the international break, playing 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw.
All times GMT.