ENGLAND forward Lauren Hemp is “raring to go” for this summer’s European Championships, having made her return to the pitch following a frustrating spell on the sidelines.

The 24-year-old was out of action for five months after undergoing knee surgery in November last year, but was able to feature in Manchester City’s final three Women’s Super League games of the season.

She made her return for the Lionesses in May with a spot in the starting XI for the 6-0 victory against Portugal at Wembley before lining up against Spain four days later and was subsequently named in England’s 23-player squad for next month’s Euros.

Hemp admitted that while the timeframe of her injury was frustrating, she was pleased to have an international camp underneath her belt in preparation to help the Lionesses defend their Euros crown in Switzerland.

“When I first injured myself, the timeframe was not as long — as in, it was about three or four months so I thought I’m going to get back for City, I’m going to try and help as much as I can until the end of the season and then obviously I’ll be fit, hopefully, come the summer,” Hemp said.

“And then obviously the timeframe kept going back. It got to a point where I was like ‘right I really want to get back on the pitch now, what’s happening’?

“To then be fit just before and get a camp under my belt and get some experience back, obviously doing that at Wembley, there is no better place to do it.

“So, yeah, I mean there was obviously points where I was like ‘am I going to be fit for the summer’? But no better time to be back fit and raring to go.”

England won the Euros on home turf in 2022, beating Germany 2-1 in a Wembley showpiece to clinch their first piece of major silverware.

Hemp was a key cog in Sarina Wiegman’s side three years ago having started every game over the course of the competition and knows there will be added expectations upon arriving in Switzerland as defending champions.

She added: “Obviously naturally there’s an added pressure because we have been successful in the past. I think naturally as the game is growing, every team is getting better as well.

“We know going into this tournament that it’s going to be tough. It’s probably the hardest tournament that there has been so far.

“We’ve got so much respect for every team going into it and we know it’s going to be hard, but we also know we’ve got every player that’s capable of winning it again and we’re going to do our best to make sure that we’re going to be the best versions of ourselves come the tournament.

“So yeah, we’re all really looking forward to it.”