“We are in a good place” says Beth Mead following England’s victory over Australia | OneFootball

On the back of England’s 3-0 win over Australia at Pride Park, Beth Mead said the side are precisely where they want to be as they look ahead to the 2027 World Cup.

England were two to the good by half-time thanks to goals from Chelsea duo Aggie Beever-Jones and Lucy Bronze following a red card to the Matildas’ Alanna Kennedy.

Mead played the entire 90 minutes, and reflected on the importance of that positive start.

“We think we started the game really well, which is something we wanted to do, to start off with,” she said. “Their [red card] changed the dynamic, which helped us be a bit more dominant in the game. Good win, good goals, but we do need to be a bit more ruthless in that final third.

“We are getting practice against 10 men at the moment, which is not ideal, but we were playing well, we are in a good place, and you obviously don’t want to see that in a game, you don’t want to see people getting sent off. You want to test yourself against eleven players, so it’s a bit of a shame, but you have to play with what’s in front of you. We adapted really well.”

The game was played in Derby as part of the Lionesses’ homecoming campaign after winning the Euros over the summer. Mead was grateful to have played in front of fans who might not have been able to catch a glimpse of their heroes had the game been played at Wembley.

“The support has been amazing wherever we go,” the Arsenal winger said. “It’s always nice to go to people a little bit more local. It’s nice to have different fans coming to watch and support us, the energy is always amazing. It’s your 12th player sometimes. We had good energy as a team today, and they helped us throughout the game. Through different kinds of moments in the game, obviously, a few other things happened today.”

With this win a nice boost ahead of the start of World Cup qualifying next year, Mead reflected on England’s stance going forwards.

“We are happy with the position we are in. We say we don’t lose, we learn, and that is what we did against Brazil. Today was nice to get the win,” she said.

Following the match, Lucia Kendall also reflected on her Lionesses debut in which she was named player of the match. Unsurprisingly, she was brimming: “Amazing,” she said. “I didn’t think it was going to happen so soon. It’s something I’ve been working really hard towards. It’s been a whirlwind.

“I was excited [when told about getting to start]. A bit nervous coming to play as well, but the girls were really good, Sarina [Wiegman] said to just go out and enjoy it, enjoy the experience, and I feel like I’ve done that today.”

Kendall only came to the Barclays Women’s Super League this season after playing in the WSL 2 (then known as the Women’s Championship) for Southampton, making it a hectic couple of months for the young midfielder.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect it,” she said. “I didn’t expect to even be called up to be honest. I feel like I’ve put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes, in the Championship, which was a really good league for me to develop in. And just to be able to go out and show myself in the WSL, I didn’t expect to be here.”