Laura Woods leaps to Lauren James' defence after England star sent off at World Cup

The Lioness has been a star player for England so far during the tournament, but endured a moment to forget after losing her cool and stamping on Nigeria star Michelle Alozie.

As a result, Sarina Wiegman's side were forced to play the last three minutes of normal time, plus extra-time and penalties with just 10 players on the pitch.

While some fans were quick to criticise James for her potentially damaging error in judgement, Woods was having none of it.

Responding to one fan saying that if we were eliminated it would be James' fault, Woods responded: "We're only through because of her! Please don't start this narrative.

"Yes, silly foul. But there's a reason everyone's been talking about her. Huge talent, first World Cup, enormous pressure. She's human."

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Another supporter made a comparison with David Beckham's treatment after his costly kick-out at Diego Simeone for England during World Cup 1998, leading Woods to reply: "Beckham got absolutely murdered by the media and the fans.

"They hung an effigy of him ffs, it was a disgusting overreaction.

"So I'm not sure what your point was here, but it's exactly the kind of overreaction we should be avoiding with Lauren."

Woods then agreed with one supporter's verdict that it would be wrong to vilify a 19-year-old, saying: "Exactly this. Weird to put the blame solely on one player when we've struggled in this game throughout."

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Thankfully for James, England managed to hold their nerve and ultimately progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition despite being far from their best across the pitch.