Why was Lauren Hemp wearing a mask for England against Australia?

The England forward was substituted early on in England’s 2-0 defeat to Australia on Tuesday night

Lauren Hemp was wearing a face mask for England against Australia on Tuesday night after taking a knock to the nose in the Finalissima triumph against Brazil last week.

Hemp, who wore the mask in the warm-up and during her time on the pitch, was replaced by Lauren James in the 28^th minute of the 2-0 defeat.

The Manchester City forward, 22, started the game on the front foot but appeared to be in some discomfort as she left the pitch.

Shortly after Hemp was substituted, Australia took the lead through Sam Kerr – and added a second goal after half-time to end England’s 30-game unbeaten run under Sarina Wiegman.

Despite the surprising loss, Wiegman insists the result can simply act as a learning curve ahead of the World Cup this summer.

"I’m not worried. I don’t worry very quickly," Wiegman said. "We know we have to be at the top level when we go into the World Cup.

Lauren Hemp wore a face mask during England’s defeat to Australia on Tuesday night (ITV4)

"Every game we get warnings. We did against Brazil. We know where we want to go to and what we have to do.

“I don’t think we’re losing momentum. I think it’s building and this is just a very good learning for us to get to the high level to win these games.

"I haven’t been focused on that [the unbeaten run] at all. We just want to win every game.

"We don’t talk about that. We want to improve every game. Yes it would be really nice to have the 31st win - I would like that too - but sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I hope we win a lot of course."