Phil Neville’s reign as England Women’s manager got off to a successful start with a 4-1 demolition of France and a performance that was brimming with attacking intent and purpose.

This mightily impressive display was only a start – acid tests against Germany and the United States follow in the remaining games of the SheBelieves tournament. Then the real work of preparing for an assault on the World Cup begins in earnest.

England are now feared by rivals, says defender Lucy Bronze Read more

“I was a little bit nervous before the game, I had a few butterflies, but my players didn’t. That’s the most important thing,” said Neville.

“There is great expectation and I love that expectation. On the bus, on the way to the ground, it felt right. It felt right standing in the technical area and the most important thing is the players are enjoying the raised expectations and the higher profile.”

Such an emphatic result, even if Neville’s confidence was brimming in the buildup, was a surprise, especially considering this win over France was only the second time England have beaten them in 44 years.

The rain had been teeming down all day here ensuring the wide open stands at the Mapfre Stadium were a sea of yellow seats and very few spectators. The hardy souls who braved the elements, however, were treated to a new dawn breaking.

Neville has retained most the squad which reached the semi-finals of last year’s European Championships although there were some notable inclusions. Chelsea’s Anita Asante, who fell out of favour under former manager Mark Sampson in 2015, earned a recall while Manchester City’s highly-rated midfielder Keira Walsh, 20, earned just her second cap.

With just a minute on the clock Fran Kirby almost opened the scoring when a close-range effort was saved by the France goalkeeper Karima Benameur.

It was an encouraging start made even better on six minutes when Toni Duggan brilliantly curled in following good work by Nikita Parris and Kirby, the 20th international goal for the Barcelona forward.

Asante’s afternoon sadly ended soon after, the Chelsea defender catching her leg in the turf and appearing to hurt her knee, allowing Abbie McManus to win her first cap.

Jodie Taylor’s audacious chip hit the bar and was unfortunate not to rebound in off Benameur who was by the far the busier of the goalkeepers. On reflection, she will realise her effort to keep out Jill Scott’s strike on 27 minutes should have been better, though no one could argue Neville’s side did not deserve it when the industrious Taylor latched on to a Parris through-ball to put the dispirited French out of sight after 39 minutes.

Two minutes after the break, Scott crossed for Kirby who scored with aplomb. Gaëtane Thiney’s deflected consolation off Millie Bright on 77 minutes mattered not.