by Glenn Lavery

England’s Women admit they were amazed with the facilities on offer at St. George's Park.

Hope Powell’s side stayed at the new national football centre ahead of their final Euro 2013 qualifier against Croatia last month.

They were one of only five England teams to have experienced the £100m training base ahead of its official opening on Tuesday.

The National Coach said: “St. George’s Park was excellent. I think the girls really enjoyed the environment.

“The facilities were very conducive to what we wanted to do in training, everything was onsite and very accessible and we had a really good week there.”

Striker Rachel Williams agreed with Powell and provided her view on how St. George’s Park made life easier for the players.

She said: “We liked the fact that everything was in one place. There was no 20-minute coach ride back to the hotel after training to do the recovery session.

“We walked straight off the training pitch and into the football centre to do ice and pool recovery there.

“Then we had a shower and by the time we got back to our rooms we had a lot more time to relax.”

Williams added: “They have made it as welcoming for female players as male players and there are pictures of some of the England girls up on the walls which was nice to see.

“I really enjoyed it.”

Fellow forward Eniola Aluko said: “The facilities at St. George’s Park were amazing and the training pitch was fantastic which really helped with our preparation.”

St. George’s Park will become home to each of the 24 England teams and the new central hub for developing coaches.

It will be officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge next Tuesday.

For more information on St .George’s Park visit www.TheFA.com/SGP