Phil Neville has claimed Lucy Bronze could hold her own in men’s football. The England women’s coach offered his assessment before the Lyon right-back captains his team in a World Cup qualifier in Russia on Friday.

“She’s phenomenal,” Neville said. “I always say to people that I think Lucy could play in the men’s game, I really do. She’s got that much quality.”

Bronze is regarded as the world’s best right-back in the women’s game and will take over as captain with Steph Houghton having undergone knee surgery. The 26-year-old defender moved from Manchester City to Lyon last summer and recently won the Champions League, in addition to the Ligue 1 title.

“Going to Lyon and training with some of the best players in world football has challenged Lucy,” Neville added. “It’s taken her game to a different level.”

Given that England are well placed in their group – six points in front of third-placed Russia – with three games remaining, next summer’s finals in France seem within touching distance.

Neville is anxious to get his hands on the trophy and maintains that would mean infinitely more than chart-topping world rankings. The Lionesses stand second in Fifa’s table but Neville is relatively unimpressed. “People make a big thing about rankings but being first or second in the world doesn’t mean much if you don’t actually win anything,” he said. “Rankings aren’t that important to me. I want a winners’ medal.”

The former Manchester United and Everton full-back said that back in September, when Mark Sampson’s England thrashed Russia 6-0 at Tranmere, he did not envisage presiding over the return fixture. “But I’ve got to say the last five months have seemed like three days,” said Neville, who took over in January. “I’ve loved every minute. The girls are incredible. I feel blessed and inspired every day.”

Which is not to say it has been plain sailing. Aware of the players’ collective disappointment at Sampson’s tumultuous sacking – “Mentally our girls have had probably their toughest ever season,” Neville said – the coach has worked hard on winning hearts and minds.

Casey Stoney’s presence at his side helped smooth the transition but the former England captain turned coach is bound for a new role, managing Manchester United’s embryonic women’s team in the second tier of the revamped women’s pyramid.

Although she departs with Neville’s blessing – “One of the main things I said in my job interview was that I want to develop female coaches,” he said – United’s re-emergence threatens to present him with dilemmas next season.

With the plan being that Stoney choreographs immediate promotion to the top tier, United are understood to be offering highly attractive wages to persuade players from clubs in the all-professional Women’s Super League to step down a level.

Dare Neville risk taking women from a predominantly part-time second-tier league to France next summer? “Yes,” he said. “I can consider Championship players for the World Cup. It’s not ideal but I will go to Championship games next season and judge players on an individual basis. I don’t judge players on whether they’re in the best WSL teams. I see them as individuals. I judge them on concentration, intensity and quality on the ball.”

He regards the top division’s shift to fully professional status as exerting a “massive” bearing on the England side’s potential. “The pool of possible internationals good enough to get into my squad will grow,” said Neville, who may replace Stoney with Sunderland’s coach Melanie Copeland. “There’s about 30 players in that pool now but I’d prefer it to be around 40, I’d be more comfortable with that.

“I want to widen the pool. In the past, England players have maybe had the comfort of knowing what the next squad is going to be before it’s announced but I’d like there to be more uncertainty. More competition for places means the standard goes up.”