Lauren Hemp says “we’re going to try our absolute best to win” ahead of Wales clash | OneFootball

Lauren Hemp, England’s pacey winger, spoke to the media ahead of England’s last group stage against Wales on Sunday 13 July 20:00 GMT.

The mood in the camp is certainly much better than it was after their game against France last weekend. “Yeah, it’s really good at the moment. Obviously we’ve all experienced losses in our career so we know what it’s like and we’re all very disappointed about that first loss. I think coming into the next game [against The Netherlands] we knew that we needed to win and the pressure was on. This team thrives under pressure and we were so disappointed with the last result that we really wanted to go in with the confidence to just be able to prove ourselves to everyone and we did that really well. There are so many positives to take into the game on Sunday [against Wales], but none of that counts unless we put in a great result on Sunday as well,” she said.

On the game against France, she added: “We knew coming into this group that it wasn’t going to be easy. It was a tough match. I felt like we had to go back and review it and look at where we went wrong. Obviously, the first game of the tournament, you don’t know what you’re going to expect or what you’re going to get into. So I think it was important that we turned it around and we proved to the fans and proved to everyone that we’re here to compete and we’re here to win.

“[There was] a bit of night and day in our performances, unfortunately it didn’t go how we wanted it to, but there was also positives from that game we could have took, we weren’t at our best but we still got it to 2-1 and we’re still close to drawing that match so obviously we never want to lose but it was important that we made sure that we got ourselves right back in it and I think we gained the respect that we deserved as a group.

“There’s always things that we can improve on as a team and there were times in that game [against The Netherlands]  where we wanted to gain momentum back because we felt like we didn’t have it. I think that showed what when this team comes together with what it can produce and we’re so proud of that performance and proud of the fight that we showed to come back because obviously like I said we’re so disappointed with that previous result but I think it showed resilience and it was a fantastic performance.”

Earlier this week, English media had revealed that Liverpool had reportedly, accepted a £1m offer from Arsenal for Canada international Olivia Smith, which would break a 46 year long barrier after the men’s game got its very first £1m deal. “It’s proof that women’s footballers are great and that is the way that the game’s going, so long may that continue,“ Hemp said.

England’s direct neighbours Wales are their next and last opponent in this Euros group stage. “It’s going to be a really tough match. We’ve got so much respect for Wales. They’ve done really well in the competition so far. We are very desperate to win. We know what it’s going to take to win. We have reviewed the last game, we have looked at the game going forward, and I think we’re just going to play to our strengths and do what we do. And you never know what you’re going to get from the same team but I’ll tell you what you will get is a lot of fight, a lot of character and yeah we’re going to try our absolute best to win,” she said.

“It’s a must win game. If not, we are not progressing. Everyone is so positive and so confident and when this team is like that we play really well as a group so hopefully that’ll give us a good result on Sunday.”

England play Wales on Sunday at 21:00 CET [20:00 GMT) in St. Gallen. They must win this game in order to progress to the quarter-finals.