WHITE BACKS WINNER PHIL
ENGLAND striker Ellen White insists Phil Neville still has the full support of the Lionesses squad despite their recent dismal run.
A 1-0 win in Portugal a month ago ended a run of five games without a win, including four defeats, going back to the World Cup in July, but it was still a lacklustre effort.
After undergoing knee surgery, White (below) is back in the England fold for the first time since the summer for the friendlies with Germany at Wembley on Saturday and against the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
The 88-times capped White, who finished the World Cup as joint top goalscorer and was recently shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or, believes Neville is the man to lead the nation into Euro 2021.
The Manchester City forward said: “We want to achieve and we know what it takes. He has been a great addition to England and we are proud that he is our manager.
“Within the squad we understand that we need to be peaking come 2021. We understand what we need to get there.
“He understands what it is like to be a professional footballer, to play for an international team, and that’s great for us.
“He has tweaked and changed bits of my game that I was a little bit resistant to. It took a while for me to really change, but it has really helped.”
The match against Germany will set a new attendance record for a women’s game in England, doubling the Lionesses’ previous best of 45,619, also against Germany, five years ago.
It will also beat the 80,203 crowd for the USA’s 2012 Olympic final win over Japan.