BETH MEAD is among the notable names missing from Hege Riise’s first England Women's squad, with the Norwegian saying the forward’s “player report hasn’t been that great”.

Riise, the Lionesses’ new interim head coach following Phil Neville stepping down last month and ahead of Sarina Wiegman taking charge in September, has selected a 20-player squad for the February 23 friendly against Northern Ireland at St George’s Park.

When asked at a press conference yesterday about the omission of Whitby-born Mead, Riise said: “For Beth Mead, the player report hasn’t been that great, and for me now to narrow the squad makes her out. But if she performs every weekend then we’ll see.”

Riise was then asked if she thought Mead – scorer of eight goals in 25 caps – had been affected by Arsenal struggling to get games played, and she said: “Of course, we haven’t seen that many games, most of them postponed, so that’s a challenge also.”

Lyon’s Nikita Parris is also absent, but those that have made the squad include the experienced quartet of skipper Steph Houghton, Lucy Bronze, Ellen White and Jill Scott, who is set to win her 150th cap.