Lucy Bronze believes England’s rise towards the apex of women’s football has served a serious warning to their rivals in the lead-up to the World Cup next summer.

Bronze, who will captain England for the first time on Thursday night in the SheBelieves Cup opener against France in place of the injured Steph Houghton, was a key member of the Lioness squads which reached the last four in the most recent World Cup and European Championship tournaments.

Even though the sacking of Mark Sampson as manager threatened to fracture and unsettle the squad, the arrival of Phil Neville five weeks ago and the introduction of former captain Casey Stoney as part of his coaching staff have helped to refocus minds with the World Cup in France next summer.

England will face the two top ranked teams in the world, Germany and the USA, in their remaining games here, giving Neville the perfect opportunity to test his squad’s credentials. Yet Bronze, who last summer became the first English player to join the four-times Champions League winners Lyon, is in no doubt.

Phil Neville fired up by ‘people who want me to fail’ before England debut Read more

“I know from playing in Lyon with all the different nationalities that people are little bit scared of playing England now,” the former Manchester City right-back said. “That’s different. In the past, I wouldn’t say we were a joke as such but people disregarded us a bit. They didn’t have a huge amount of respect for us as a football team. They knew we would be physical, we still are, but they didn’t think we could play football.

“Now, they’re aware we have more angles to our game. We aren’t here to make up the numbers. To have reached back-to-back semi-finals is still an amazing achievement. There aren’t many teams who have held that level of consistency, but it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth to have not gone on to reach a final and that has to be the target at the World Cup. We have never entered a tournament not wanting to win, but we are going to be one of the favourites.”

Leaving England for France was a huge move for Bronze – and women’s football in this country considering Lyon’s stature and trophy cabinet – though the switch is already paying huge dividends. “I think I’ve got a bit more composure on the ball,” said the 26-year-old, who admitted some of the younger members of the England squad have had to resort to YouTube to learn about Neville’s playing career.

“I play with some of the best players in the world every day so I should be getting better. It’s a challenge, I have to push myself every single day just to hold my own technically.

“I don’t get kicked as much. I wake up in the morning with less bruises and scratches. The English league, although it’s one of the better leagues, it’s more physical. The French league is more technical. Which is good, because that is what I went there for. I wanted to get better technically.”

Casey Stoney joins England coaching staff after announcing retirement Read more

Neville, meanwhile, has been quick in attempting to make his mark on the squad and instil the kind of discipline and attention to detail which served him well during his playing career with Manchester United, Everton and England. A player leaving a water bottle on the pitch at the end of his first training session may appear trivial yet the 41-year-old distinctly felt otherwise, something with which his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson would certainly concur.

“I’ve tried to raise the bar in terms of every facet of performance and so far what I’ve seen is that they have risen to every challenge that I’ve set them apart from leaving a water bottle on the training pitch, which I wasn’t happy about,” said Neville, who hauled the guilty party off the team bus to correct her error. “Doing that is unheard of so we talked about the standards that I want from them as a team, the kind of thing which was instilled into me from my parents, from the managers that I played for.

“The little things matter. They are on top of timekeeping but I’m a stickler for standards. We’re going to be all in it together from the kit man to the security to the media. Then we all share it together. They get it. They know full well. And do you know what? They want me to pull them on things like that.

“Leaving the kit man to pick up a bottle of water is, for me, as big a crime as giving the ball away. That said, I have been really surprised by the standards they have set themselves and how they have policed themselves – which is even more important.”