France expect to be without captain Griedge Mbock for their European Championships opener against holders England on Saturday night. The Paris Saint-Germain defender has been battling to recover from a calf injury, but manager Laurent Bonadei indicated this game will come too early.

“Unfortunately Griedge is still feeling a bit uneasy on her calf,” Bonadei said. “It’s the beginning of the competition we don’t want to take any risks

Bonadei indicated Mbock, 30, has suffered no tear or rupture and will be with the squad, albeit not able to start against the Lionesses. France made the big call to leave Wendie Renard out of the squad, but Bonadei says he trusts his younger players at the back - with 21-year-old Alice Sombath potentially in line for a start.

“Yes its true Wendie was an important decision but regarding other players in defence, not having Wendie and Gridege’s injury could be damaging but the last 8 matches i think Wendie only played against Iceland," the manager added. He said he fully trusts the younger players preparing to step up in place of the more experienced old heads.

With Mbock and Renard missing, Sakina Karchaoui is one of the more experienced players in the squad, and she expects the captain to have an influence despite not being able to feature on the pitch. " Griedge is someone that’s very important within the group because she s a leader, the captain of the team and even if not starting the game shell be there with us and always knows the right things to say," Kharchaoui said.

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Earlier in the week, England defender Lucy Bronze was asked about her former team-mate Mbock. The pair played together at Lyon during Bronze's three-season stint with the club, between 2017 and 2020.

"She's picked up a number of injuries, been very unfortunate since I left Lyon, she did her Achilles twice and had a really bad knee incident," Bronze said.

"But before that, for a young player, she was so mature. She played right foot, left foot, so athletic, fast, read the game, she played so many years next to Wendie Renard.

"She just learned so much from her and then added her own style. When I went to Barcelona, she was one of the players Alexia asked me about. Mbock is probably not a big name that people would necessarily think of but when you play with or against her, she definitely catches your eye."

England (4-2-3-1): Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Greenwood, Carter;

France (4-3-3): Peyraud-Magnin; Bacha, Sombath, Lakrar, De Almeida; Karchaoui, Jean-Francois, Geyoro; Baltimore, Katoto, Cascarino

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