Watch Clinton goal as England beat Switzerland

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women's football news reporter at Bramall Lane

Grace Clinton scored again as England ended the year with victory over Switzerland in a friendly international at Bramall Lane.

The 21-year-old's strike sealed a routine victory for Sarina Wiegman's side as they made light work of an injury-hit Swiss team who are preparing to host Euro 2025 next summer.

The Lionesses, who themselves are hoping to defend their European crown in Switzerland, have had an inconsistent 2024 campaign, but this was a pleasing performance.

With 10 changes to the starting XI following the draw with the United States, and senior debuts handed to Ruby Mace and Laura Blindkilde Brown, the Lionesses were keen to express themselves.

Manchester United midfielder Clinton took her opportunity to shine once again, netting a third goal on her fifth England appearance, pouncing on a rebound when Millie Turner's header bounced back off the post in the eighth minute.

Further chances fell to Maya le Tissier and Blindkilde Brown, with Chelsea forward Aggie Beever-Jones heavily involved in a bright display up front.

Substitute Georgia Stanway almost capped off the night with a late goal but struck the post in added time.

Switzerland had offered more of a threat in the second half as Wiegman continued to rotate and tinker with her team, and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton made smart saves to deny Meriame Terchoun and Iman Beney.

This victory capped off a four-game period where Wiegman has "experimented" and, while England failed to impress overall, this was an encouraging display from many of the youngsters who are fighting for a place in the regular starting XI.

"I got lots of information about individuals and where they are at in this moment," said Wiegman as she reflected on the past four friendly matches.

"We played many players. We wanted to tweak a couple of things in our style of play. Of course there is a lot of work to do but I think it was good to see.

"They are the main two things I wanted to see and off the pitch we did lots of things that were really good for the players for their development."

Young Lionesses show composure

Wiegman promised "many changes" from the goalless draw with the United States on Saturday and kept her word with only Manchester City's Jess Park retaining her place in the starting XI.

It was a youthful and inexperienced team that stepped out on the pitch at Bramall Lane, with only centre-back Millie Bright – captaining the side – a familiar face.

Mace and Blindkilde Brown looked at home on their senior England debuts, while Clinton and Beever-Jones were stand-out performers in the opening period.

England dominated possession and showed creativity and it was only a lack of ruthlessness that prevented them from adding to their tally as they were comfortably the better side.

This was a weakened Switzerland team, though, and affected by injury absences, including influential Arsenal midfielder Lia Walti.

England's players were also largely out of position and rotating as Wiegman set the team up in an unfamiliar 3-4-3, before switching to a 3-5-2 in the second half when experienced trio Keira Walsh, Beth Mead and Alessia Russo were introduced.

Wiegman had hoped to bring on defender Lucy Bronze late, but there was an admin error which meant she had not been named on the team sheet.

"That was a moment where she was not on the list. There has been a mistake," she told ITV afterwards.

"We still wanted to bring her on the pitch so that was really frustrating. We couldn't change it anymore."

The hosts seemed to switch between the systems seamlessly, however, which is not something they had done in underwhelming October performances against Germany and South Africa.

In summary, this was a positive night for Wiegman and England's youthful outfit, who showed they belonged on the international stage and there are options for the Lionesses to rotate.

It also intensified calls for Clinton and Park to feature more regularly in midfield and Chelsea forward Beever-Jones will surely be given more opportunities in the future based on this display.

Player of the match

G. Clinton
7.64
10 G. Clinton
7.64
9 A. Beever-Jones
7.36
1 H. Hampton
7.27
6 M. Bright
7.20
7 J. Park
7.01
8 M. Le Tissier
6.77
11 L. Blindkilde Brown
6.65
5 M. Turner
6.50
4 R. Mace
6.46
3 G. George
6.35
19 A. Russo
6.22
2 E. Morgan
6.22
18 J. Carter
5.83
14 G. Stanway
5.76
16 K. Walsh
5.62
15 B. Mead
5.50
17 J. Naz
5.15
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After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

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