Chapman Set For Return Against USA

Katie Chapman returns to the England side for Friday’s friendly against the United States in Milton Keynes after a four-year absence.
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The Chelsea midfielder’s exile came after a dispute with former boss Hope Powell over childcare issues.
Head coach Mark Sampson said: “We’ve got a difficult game against the USA, but we’ve not brought Katie back just for one match.
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“The idea was to bring her back as she might have a World Cup part to play.”
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The visit of the Americans is another chance for Sampson to refine his plans ahead of this summer’s tournament in Canada, which begins in June.
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Following his team’s comprehensive 3-0 defeat by Germany at Wembley in their last outing, Sampson has decided to rein in his attacking instincts, with defensive midfielder Chapman set to provide a shield for the back four.
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“Against Germany we had a very offence-minded team with lots of speed and creativity, but we lacked a real base to develop that creativity from,” said Sampson.
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“Moving forward against top-tier nations like Germany and the USA, we have to make sure we’ve got that base to give our creative players the best possible chance to do what they’re good at.”We want to hurt the opposition but also make sure we keep the back door shut. So there’s been a change of personnel, and there will also be a slight adaptation in our style.”
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Sampson is confident that the issues which prevented mother-of-three Chapman from playing for her country have now been resolved.
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“We needed to know that she wanted to be part of that, and she felt that with certain measures in place she could come to the tournament and do her best,” he added.
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“We’ve discussed the situation. It’s about what’s right for Katie, what’s right for us and it’s our intention to support her as well as we can.
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“We just want to give her a platform to go and do her very best.”
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Chapman, 32, is in line to win her 83rd cap after a break that began just before England’s last meeting with America, a 2-1 home win in April 2011.
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That was the first time in nine attempts that England had beaten the USA, who were then the world’s top-ranked team but are now second behind Germany.
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A run of poor form has seen them win only one and lose two of their last five games, the most recent of them a 2-0 defeat by France on Sunday.
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“It could be a good time to face them,” said Sampson. “But the Americans are incredibly competitive and after having their pride dented they’ll be looking to turn their form around.