Ready to go: The week that was at St. George's Park

Saturday 02 Aug 2014
England's women trained at St. George's Park all week

England's Women have left St. George's Park after a week of training and have completed the 160-mile journey to their base in the north-east.

The squad face Sweden, ranked by FIFA among the world's top five teams, at Hartlepool's Victoria Park stadium on Sunday at 2pm.

But prior to travelling to County Durham on Friday the group had been staying at St. George's Park for five training sessions - making the most of the facilities and even mingling with a few Barcelona players, who were also training at the centre throughout the week.

Head coach Mark Sampson said of the camp: “This week has been a very competitive environment, a very intense environment – and that will get the best out of people.

“We’ve been together now for nearly half a year so the players are really familiar with the way we work – and with each other. It’s always good to be confident and comfortable in each other’s company.

“It’s been a very positive camp again for us,” he continued. 

“We’ve spent some time on the training field trying to embed our principles even further and the players have again worked incredibly hard – so I’m delighted with their mentality. To listen, to improve - and we’ve got some good work done."

Watch the video above to see how the week progressed.

England v Sweden

International fixture 

2pm, Sunday 3 August 2014 

Victoria Park, Hartlepool

Tickets £5 adults, £2.50 children

Tickets for the match are on sale now priced £5 for adults and £2.50 for children. A family ticket (two adults and two children) is available at £10 and group booking discounts apply.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 01429 272 584 (option 2), via TheFA.com's ticketing page or at the Hartlepool United ticket office.

England squad

Goalkeepers: Karen Bardsley (Manchester City), Siobhan Chamberlain (Arsenal), Carly Telford* (Notts County).

Defenders: Gemma Bonner (Liverpool), Lucy Bronze (Liverpool), Alex Greenwood (Everton), Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Alex Scott (Arsenal), Demi Stokes (University of South Florida).

Midfielders: Laura Bassett (Chelsea), Jade Moore (Birmingham City), Jill Scott (Manchester City), Fara Williams (Liverpool), Jo Potter** (Birmingham City), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal).

Forwards: Karen Carney (Birmingham City), Eniola Aluko (Chelsea), Jess Clarke (Notts County), Natasha Dowie (Liverpool), Toni Duggan (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Reading), Lianne Sanderson (Boston Breakers), Jodie Taylor (Washington Spirit).

* replaced Rachel Brown-Finnis
** replaced Dunia Susi

By Jamie Reid Senior Writer