Alex Scott advises Sarina Wiegman against restoring Lauren James to starting line-up for World Cup Final

Alex Scott has advised Sarina Wiegman against restoring Lauren James to her starting line-up for Sunday’s World Cup final against Spain.

The Chelsea winger began the tournament on the substitutes bench but was to the fore in the Lionesses wins over China and Denmark before her controversial sending off against Nigeria earned her a two-game ban.

Ella Toone Deputises Superbly in Absence of Lauren James

Ella Toone has deputised superbly in the absence of James and scored the opening goal in Wednesday’s historic semi-final win over Australia. With James now available having served her suspension, Wiegman now faces a major selection dilemma but Scott believes the Spain’s style means Toone deserves to retain her place.

She told the BBC: ‘Another headache and another debate over Ella Toone because does Lauren James come back in? It’s a great headache for Sarina Wiegman to have. Going out there and watching this team today and watching Spain play I’d start with the same XI. If you think of the discipline and how Spain play I think you need to start with this and have someone like Lauren James who can come on.’

Sarina Wiegman Faces Major Selection Dilemma

Wiegman will not doubt consider all options ahead of the challenge of facing Spain who came within six minutes of knocking England out of last summer’s European Championships. Reacting to another landmark success, Wiegman said: ‘We achieved the final! Unbelievable, it feels like we won the whole thing but we didn’t. An away game at this incredible stadium, it was a hard game but again, we found a way to win.

‘We scored three goals, in this team there is ruthlessness, up front and defence. We really want to win. We stick together and we stick to the