Manchester City’s Georgia Stanway says that she feels like England are still moving in the right direction despite falling to their latest defeat against Canada this evening.
The Lionesses lost 2-0 to Bev Priestman’s side at the bet365 Stadium in Stoke in a game which highlighted England’s weaknesses at both ends of the pitch.
Individual errors from Demi Stokes and Karen Bardsley contributed to Canada’s goals while England were far from good enough in attack.
Despite a hugely disappointing evening for the Lionesses, Stanway said that she still believes that England are progressing as interim head coach Hege Riise continues to assess the squad ahead of Team GB selection for this summer’s Olympic Games.
“I think it is just those fine margins that we are still talking about,” Stanway said when speaking in the post-match press conference. “We played really good football, the statistics are on our side but we are just not getting there in the final third.
“Our build, our creativity is there, it is just that final ball into the box or that final end product that we are still working on but I personally feel like we are heading in the right direction and hopefully, it looks like that to those watching.”
Despite the defeats to France and Canada in the last four days, Stanway said that the team are working hard to address the fine margins at both ends of the pitch.
“It is just those fine margins,” she again stressed. “We are disappointed in ourselves for not creating enough and not finishing off those final balls. Obviously, there have also been personal errors and KB (Karen Bardsley) has owned up to her mistake.
“We take it on the chin, there are 10 other players on the pitch that have jobs to do. If the forwards and us aren’t delivering, everybody is kind of stuck.
“It is something that we are currently working on.”
England interim head coach and Team GB head coach, Riise, is expected to name her 18-player squad for the Olympic Games in around a month’s time. Given the Lionesses’ results in the last few days, places could well be still up for grabs.