Millie Bright praises England substitutes for taking team 'up a level' | OneFootball

Millie Bright has praised the impact of the England substitutes in giving the side the edge as the Lionesses came from a goal down to beat Spain 2-1 in the Euro 2022 quarter finals.

England had trailed 1-0 following a 54th minute Esther Gonzalez goal, but the introduction of Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo just before the hour mark, and then Ella Toone shortly afterwards, breathed new life into the Lionesses.

Kelly offered England a completely different wide outlet, while Russo and Toone combined for England's late equaliser, the latter latching onto the former's header and volleying home.

Alex Greenwood was also introduced in the second half, and the Manchester City defender did superbly to quell the threat of Del Castillo, who had been so instrumental in Spain's opening goal.

"Our squad is unbelievable and any single player could start, could come on and make a difference but our subs took us to the next level really," said Bright.

"In games like that you need them to come and bring that little bit more energy, and (for) the ones that have been on from the start [they] keep us going as well, so I thought the subs were incredible."

The game marked the first time at Euro 2022 that England have gone a goal behind, and just the second time during the entire Sarina Wiegman era - with the only other occasion against the Netherlands in June's pre-tournament friendly.

Against a Spain side who are so good at keeping the ball, it was a difficult scoreline to turn around.

"We've not been in that position so to be put in that position and all the pressure that's on the game and to come out the other end with the win and through to the semis shows our character and what we're about," Bright added.

"It's all part of the game; you're going to come up against different challenges. We knew they were going to have a lot of the ball and we were going to have to find that different way of winning having been in games where we've scored a lot of goals.

"It's about being clinical when you get those chances and I thought the players that were on and the players that came on did that excellently."