Phil Neville told his players not to “lose the feelgood factor because of one defeat” following his England team’s flat defeat to a strong Canada side. A sold-out Academy Stadium meant “the atmosphere was brilliant,” said Neville. “Every time we got into the final third there was a real buzz, they’ve got the new kit on and there was a real feelgood factor. I said to the players we shouldn’t lose that.”

The England manager was insistent that this defeat, their second in a row at home, was not as serious a blip as the 2-0 loss to Sweden at the end of 2018, and in fact reassured him of the team’s confidence in his plans. “Against Sweden I think we deviated from the plan – at two goals down in the first half I thought that happened. Tonight they stuck to the plan and that gives me confidence that they believe in my philosophy.”

The Canadians offered a more physical challenge than Spain will on Tuesday night, and this game was a vital part of the World Cup preparations for that reason. “I thought it was a brilliant game in terms of the test we wanted,” said Neville.

“They had experience, we knew they were going to change to two or three formations and we knew that to play the type of football that we want to play we had to be really brave. I saw a team that tried to be brave. Our composure in the final third let us down, particularly in the second half.”

Lucy Bronze was shifted from her usual right-back berth into the middle to sit in front of the defence alongside Keira Walsh, a position she was playing in for the second time under Neville, before being moved back halfway through the second half. Neville said he would continue to test his Lyon star positionally.

“I’ll use her in both, you look at the second half, the amount of headers that she won and the way she drove forward. It’s the second time she’s played midfield in her life, let alone her career.”

Rachel Daly, filling in for Bronze on the right of the defence was, like Neville, bullish about the performance. “I think we were really good. You just can’t shut off, they got a goal at a crucial time and you’ve just got to keep going and try and get one back. We’re at a good point right now, we’ve got a good team chemistry on and off the pitch and the score doesn’t reflect the performance tonight by any means.”