Austria Women v England Women preview: Toni Duggan to captain Lionesses
World Cup warm-up for Phil Neville's side
Last Updated: 07/11/18 12:47pm
Toni Duggan will wear the captain's armband for the first time when England Women take on Austria on Thursday.
The Barcelona forward will take over from Steph Houghton in the World Cup warm-up, allowing the Lionesses' regular skipper to win her 100th cap at home against Sweden on Sunday.
Duggan scored five goals in seven qualifying appearances for next summer's tournament in France and boss Phil Neville believes the promotion, although temporary, is well deserved.
"This is a great opportunity for Toni as one of the senior and most experienced players in our squad," Neville said.
"I have seen leadership qualities in Toni for some time and this is the next step in her development. Being the England captain is a tremendous honour and I'm sure Toni will revel in the role.
"Steph won't be involved - she wants to play but we told her no.
"I wanted to make Sunday a special day because she has earned it. It can be a celebration of her England international career."
England reached the 2019 World Cup with games to spare after a 3-0 win over Wales in August.
They claimed an impressive 1-0 win over Brazil in their first friendly game since qualifying last month, but were wasteful in a 1-1 draw with an under-strength Australia side days later.
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While Duggan will wear the armband, Chelsea midfielder Karen Carney could win her 135th England cap.
Carney and Mel Lawley were called into the squad after Keira Walsh and Fran Kirby withdrawn as a precautionary measure after sustaining knocks for Manchester City and Chelsea respectively at the weekend.
Austria missed out on the World Cup and were comfortably beaten 3-0 by England when the sides met in a friendly last April but striker Nina Burger is likely to be a threat, having scored four goals and made two more during the qualifying stage.
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