Mark Sampson lauds England's work ethic and belief

Speaking after the Lionesses’ 4-0 win over the side ranked fifth in the world, the England Women’s head coach said the result was down to hard work and belief throughout the whole group. 

"For me, more pleasingly, the quality of the performance was there," he said. "The energy and enthusiasm we demand from the players was there for all to see and there in abundance.

"Right from the first whistle we got ourselves on the front foot. We were positive, we showed lots of courage to get ourselves on the ball. And just as importantly we defended with a lot of discipline as well. 

"To get a clean sheet, to score a lot of goals and create that many chances against such a quality opponent – as a group, we’ve got to be very pleased with that."

The Lionesses dominated the game against their much-fancied visitors from the first whistle and debutants Fran Kirby and Jodie Taylor proved troublesome for the Swedish defenders throughout their 60 minutes on the field.

In the end, a brace from Karen Carney as well as strikes from Kirby and Lianne Sanderson sealed the commanding victory for England against a full-strength Sweden side.

And Sampson felt that the all-round team display was one of the most pleasing elements of the victory.

"The big thing for me today was the impact of the players that came off the bench," he continued. 

"To make six subs and bring on the quality of players that we brought on into the game, to improve the quality of play from the bench just shows the class of player we’ve got now."

He also reserved special praise for record-breaker Fara Williams – who made her 130th appearance for England, enough to take her clear of Rachel Yankey as the most capped English footballer of all time.

He added: "We can’t miss the fact that Fara’s produced a performance of that type of class. 

"There was lots of pressure on her today to produce a performance given the situation, and I thought she was absolutely world class."