While every player and manager aims to fuse a good performance with a positive result, Jill Scott knows the latter is more important in a qualifying campaign.
The Manchester City midfielder is a member of Mark Sampson’s England Women’s squad who are at St. George’s Park preparing for a Euro 2017 qualifying double-header.
The Lionesses entertain Belgium in Rotherham on Friday night (7.55pm BST) before flying to Zenica to take on Bosnia next Tuesday.
England v Belgium
UEFA Women’s Euro 2017
Group 7 qualifier
7.55pm, Friday 8 April
New York Stadium, Rotherham United
Tickets priced £5 adults, £2.50 children
Scott scored the only goal of the game when England hosted Bosnia in November, after her team-mates eventually found a way past visitors who were intent on stifling their more heralded opponents.
And the 29-year-old warned her side to expect more teams to set up against them in an ultra-defensive manner.
“In a qualifying campaign the most important thing is winning the game,” she said.
“Looking back at the Bosnia game last year, people probably thought we were going to win by a bigger scoreline.
“But when smaller teams play against England now, it’s their cup final.
“If Bosnia had earned a draw against us it would have been the biggest result of their lives.
“We’ve got to prepare for that to happen more often now that there’s an expectation on us.
“We have to get into good habits and stick to those habits as much as we can.
“We’re expecting two challenging matches over the next week but we’ll have to find a way to win them both.”
England have won both qualifying matches so far, easing to an 8-0 victory over Estonia two months before edging Bosnia.
Tickets for the Belgium game are priced £5 for adults and £2.50 for children. A family ticket (two adults and two children) priced £10 is also available.
Tickets can be bought via TheFA.com/Tickets, by calling 08444 140 754 or in person at the Rotherham United ticket office.
You can read more from Scott in the official Belgium matchday programme, including her thoughts on the reasons the Lionesses now sit fourth in the FIFA rankings, their highest-ever position.
