Jo Potter said England Women are striving to win every game with conviction as she looked ahead to Friday’s Cyprus Cup match against Australia.
The Birmingham City midfielder played the full 90 minutes as Mark Sampson’s side opened up their campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Finland in Larnaca.
Although they qualified with ease for this summer’s World Cup in Canada, it was England’s first win in two matches, following back-to-back defeats by Germany and USA.
England v Australia
The Cyprus Cup
3.30pm GMT, Friday 6 March
Nicosia, Cyprus
And with the Matildas next up for the Three Lions, Potter explained her team-mates are trying to put the recent losses behind them and make the rest of the world take note.
The 30-year-old said: “This week isn’t just about getting minutes under our belts. It’s about winning. And winning with conviction.
“We want to send a message out that we can compete with the best. We were probably a bit naive against Germany but we did well against USA and probably should have come away with a draw.
“That USA game proves we are no pushovers and I think you can see that we are definitely going in the right direction.”
The matches come thick and fast in the Cyprus Cup, an annual friendly tournament which England have won twice, in 2009 and 2013.
Sampson’s side played Finland on Wednesday, they are preparing for Australia on Friday, and wrap up their group games against Holland on Monday.
But Potter is relishing the quick turnaround in matches.
“Things are a lot more professional now which reflects the boom in the women’s game”
Jo Potter
She added: “The coaches will have watched the Australia-Holland game yesterday and we’ll know all about them come kick-off, but they are a bit of an unknown entity in that not many of the girls would have played against an Australian team in the past.
“But we need to take it one game at a time, recover from one game and then move on to the next straight away. Just like we would have to do in a World Cup.”
After six years away from international football, Potter made her England comeback in the 10-0 rout of Montenegro in September, and she has been pleasantly surprised by how much has changed in the backroom set-up.
She said: “Things are a lot more professional now and I think that just reflects the boom in the women’s game in general.
Jo Potter in action for Birmingham City
“I looked around at training the other day and there were almost as many staff as players. I think that’s a great thing.
“We’ve got a nutritionist out here, warning us about the heat and telling us how much salt we need to take on board. We’ve got two physios and a sports scientist telling us how much we need to be drinking. We are covering all bases.
“It’s fantastic to see that level of professionalism increasing so much in such a short space of time. And it needs to go that way.
"The game is progressing, the girls are getting a lot better, The FA WSL is improving and things are going to keep on improving across the board.
“Things are looking really positive going forward.”
