Hege Riise: Norway legend to coach England Women on temporary basis after Phil Neville exit

The Football Association (FA) have announced two temporary coaching appointments to England Women for February's camp after being thrown into disarray by Phil Neville's resignation.

Hege Riise, a former Norway midfielder, is set to take charge of the Lionesses next month with support from Rhian Wilkinson, who stepped down as Canada's youth team coach last week.

The two women were the front-runners in an ongoing interview process to become Neville's new assistant following the departure of Rehanne Skinner to Tottenham in November and will provisionally be in charge for next month's camp only, after Neville's departure for David Beckham's Inter Miami caught the FA short.

Neville was due to step down at the end of his contract in August, with Netherlands coach Sarina Weigman already confirmed as his long-term successor, and the former Manchester United player had also agreed to take charge of Team GB at this summer's delayed Olympic Games.

Riise and Wilkinson's impact will be assessed before any decisions are made on the management of the squad after February, while the FA are also yet to decide who will take charge of Team GB in Tokyo.

There are currently no Lionesses fixtures in the diary but the FA is working on organising a mini four-team tournament for the February international break.

England will not be taking part in the SheBelieves Cup and could instead have a round-robin competition on home soil.

Riise was one of the greatest players of her generation, winning the European Championship, the World Cup and an Olympic gold with Norway.

After retiring as a player, the 51-year-old has been a successful club coach in her homeland and also coached Norway's Under-23s and spent three years as assistant to then-USA head coach Pia Sundhage from 2009.

As a player, Wilkinson featured in four World Cups with Canada and helped them to a bronze medal at the London 2012 Games.

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