Women's World Cup 2019: Phil Neville hails 'world class' Nikita Parris after England beat Scotland

Parris recently joined all-conquering Lyon from Manchester City

Phil Neville believes that Nikita Parris can be considered a “world class” player after scoring on her Women’s World Cup debut against Scotland.

Parris converted an early penalty to send the England on their way to a 2-1 victory in Nice and she was later named Fifa’s player of the match.

The 25-year-old was recently named the PFA’s Women’s Player of the Year for her performances with Manchester City and has since joined the all-conquering Olympique Lyonnais.

Neville believes that Parris can now be included in an elite band of players in the women’s game and sees her going from strength to strength at her new club.

“She’s world class. That’s a given now,” he said. “She’s got to keep scoring goals, got to keep improving.

“The start of the World Cup build-up, coming back from signing for Lyon, it was really difficult for her.

“The girl’s coming from Toxteth, going over to France, the stress of signing for a new club.

“I thought it probably affected her for the first five or six days of the camp. That’s why we played her in both games, to get some rhythm.

“But this week, she’s turned up and ramped up the volume and today I thought she looked sharp. Her and Lucy Bronze down the right-hand side are going to be a real weapon for us.”