Dowie confident Lions will improve
Tuesday, 20 September, 2011
Natasha Dowie believes England will perform better on Thursday.
Tickets are priced £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions (U7s go free)
Ticket hotline 0871 876 1993
Natasha Dowie believes the 2-2 draw with Serbia on Saturday has given England extra incentive to put in a better performance against Slovenia at the County Ground on Thursday evening.
The England Women’s opening Euro 2013 qualifier finished 2-2, as the Serbians came from 2-0 down to earn a draw, the equaliser coming in the fourth minute of added time.
However, as she prepares to for the second part of this Group 6 double-header, Dowie says the conditions in Swindon will suit England far better than the searing heat of Belgrade.
“A lot of things will be in our favour on Thursday,” said the Everton hotshot, who made her first competitive start for her country on Saturday. “We are at home in front of a good crowd, the pitch will be a lot better than it was in Serbia, the weather obviously won’t be as hot and I’d be very surprised if we didn’t go out and put in a better performance.
“We were 2-0 up and half-time and we should have pushed on and scored a few more goals, but we seemed content to just keep the ball at times and that’s something we’ll work on for the Slovenia game. We need to try and express ourselves a bit more and take a few more risks.
“It’s important to remember that we haven’t been beaten in open play for a long time now and Saturday’s result changes nothing because we still want to go out there and win every other group game anyway.
"If anything, it has just given us a kick up the backside. We need to put in a better performance on Thursday and get the three points and I’m very confident we’ve got the team to do just that.”
Tickets for Thursday’s game are priced £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions, with U7s going free. Call the ticket hotline on 0871 876 1993