Millie Bright

“You're so emotionally connected to the game that it's hard to switch off afterwards. It's a good time to have open and honest conversations about your performance and what you can improve on next time.”

“When I was younger, I had a fear of being judged as a footballer, and my worst fear was feeling like I didn't belong at the level of football I was playing.”

“Like many of us in the England squad, I wasn't even born when the men's team played Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup, so I couldn't tell you much about that game.”

“I don't think I started kicking a ball until I was six or seven. Horses were my first love, so I was occupied with that.”

“People that know me realise what kind of player I am. I'm a front-foot defender; I like a tackle, but I'm not malicious, and I don't go in to hurt.”

“Pressure is always in the back of your mind, but that's the pressure that drives you on and makes you perform to the best you can be.”

“I'd say I'm a front foot defender; I never hesitate to go in for a challenge. You have to get one over your opponent and dominate them.”

“The game is not just about the top four or five teams; it's the whole league that needs to be stable and developing. Without the other teams, we are nothing.”

“We see every game as a big game, and, as you know in tournament football, anything is possible. Each game, we want to keep raising the bar and lifting our standards and putting goals past teams.”

“What makes me so strong in the tackle? My grandad has always said if you're going in for a ball, you go 100% and you never go in half-hearted.”

“If you're a footballer, your club should be able to help you with medical needs, and that's where the women's game gets a lack of respect. It doesn't reflect well on women's football at all.”

“It's helped to develop me on the pitch, knowing all the positions, but also it's a good asset to have, that versatility. I'm able to move if I'm needed.”

“At the start, you don't earn a great deal, so you have to work other jobs if you want to play football. When I was at Doncaster, I couldn't solely do football. I had to work; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to live.”

“I still can't believe I'm going to a World Cup.”

“In the past, I tried to put on a brave face and smile after a defeat, but then it would backfire in training, and I'd get frustrated. Now I just embrace it, let it out, and then, two days later, I'm back in training and ready for the next game.”

“In tournament football, you cannot dwell on things for too long.”

“The 2017 European Championship was my first major tournament for England, but everyone tells me the World Cup is a different level.”

“I definitely want to be successful in the Champions League, having never been involved in it before. It's where the best players prove themselves.”

“We are getting to the point where, like the men's game, playing football is not only a legitimate career but enables you to live really well and can perhaps even set you up for life. It will allow little girls to tell their mums and dads they want to be professional footballers and not have their dreams dismissed so easily.”

“Analysis of opponents is something I like doing.”