England women: Hills’ mindset suits Stoney

Casey Stoney (Getty)

England captain Casey Stoney praised interim head coach Brent Hills for bringing a major dose of confidence to the side after they maintained their 100 per cent start to World Cup qualifying with a 2-0 win over Wales.

Hills took over the reins after the departure of Hope Powell in the wake of England’s poor European Championship campaign and has since guided the team to three straight wins, with the latest at Millwall on Saturday coming courtesy of goals from Jordan Nobbs and Toni Duggan.

“The first thing we said before the first game was that we need to put the Euros behind us and Brent has done a good job of instilling a positive mindset,” said Stoney. “He’s also tried to freshen things up with younger players coming in so there’s now more competition for places. During training no one knows what the team will be so everyone’s working hard and fighting for their place.”

England visit Turkey on Thursday but despite an 8-0 win over them in Portsmouth last month, Stoney said she will be taking nothing for granted.

“Their pride will be hurt from the first game and now they’re on home territory,” said Stoney. “We know England would be a major scalp for them, so we’ll have to go there with a disciplined attitude.”