England geared up for the Women’s European Championship with a 2-1 friendly victory over Denmark, as captain for the night Ellen White marked the honour with two goals.

Mark Sampson’s side were playing their final warm-up match before the tournament begins in the Netherlands later this month, and emerged victorious thanks to White’s 22nd and 23rd international goals.

The Danes posed the Lionesses plenty of problems in Copenhagen and had equalised through the dangerous Pernille Harder’s free-kick before White capitalised on a defensive mix-up to score the winner with 14 minutes to go.

Way before Harder had put them back on equal terms in the second half, Denmark were threatening from set-piece situations. Mie Jans had a goal disallowed from a first-half corner when the England goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain was adjudged to have been fouled. Jans then blocked Nikita Parris’s goal-bound effort at the other end.

An unmarked Simone Boye Sorenson headed wide at the far post before the visitors went ahead one minute before half-time, as Demi Stokes’s pull-back from the left flank was brilliantly hooked into the corner by White.

White then prevented an equaliser by clearing off the line just before the break as Denmark once again asked questions of England’s defence from a corner.

Harder levelled in the 66th minute, her 46th international goal coming from a free-kick on the edge of the box that Chamberlain could only help into the top corner.

Sampson’s side claimed the victory thanks to White’s persistence and predatory finish 10 minutes later.

Luna Gevitz’s weak pass to Boye invited the lurking White to step in and apply the pressure, and when the Danish defender’s back pass was tipped on to the crossbar by Stina Lykke, White collected the rebound and fired in the winner.

England will now head to the Netherlands having won each of their last three fixtures. The Lionesses are among the seeded teams and face Scotland in their opening match on 19 July in Utrecht. Sampson’s team will also face Spain and Portugal in Group D.