England are facing an early exit from Euro 2013 and need to beat Russia tonight to have a realistic chance of reaching the knockout stages.
Hope Powell’s side are desperate for three points following Friday’s surprise 3-2 defeat by Spain in their opening Group C game.
Victory against Russia in Linkoping is imperative with England facing second favourites for the tournament, France, in their final group game.
England have never beaten France and, despite the two best third-placed teams qualifying for the quarter-finals, Ellen White knows a victory tonight is vital.
“Hopefully we can come away with the win which is what we need now,” said the Arsenal forward. “We will stick together as a team, analyse the Spain game and learn from it.
“We have got some great characters in this side to pick everybody up and the games are coming thick and fast, which is probably a good thing.”
England twice recovered from going behind against Spain but an injury-time own-goal from goalkeeper Karen Bardsley inflicted a potentially damaging defeat. “Obviously we are disappointed to have lost the opening game,” said White, 24.
“We got ourselves back in it twice and we thought we could come away with a draw but we were unlucky in the end. There are a lot of lessons for us to learn.”
England have been here before. They lost their Euro 2009 opener to Italy before beating Russia on their way to the final, where they lost against Germany.
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Captain Casey Stoney, 31, said: “We never like to do things easy but we know we have got enough in this team to get a result. Hopefully now the opening game nerves are out of the way, we can go out a little bit more relaxed and play — because we can play.”
Arsenal defender Alex Scott could win her 100th cap tonight. The 28-year-old says the landmark appearance will mean nothing unless England get a result against Russia, who were beaten 3-1 by France in their opening game.
She said: “It’s hard because it might be a proud moment but winning the game is the main thing. If we do not win we know we will be going home. But we have been in this situation before so the panic is not setting in yet. Maybe now we have nothing to lose.”
Live on BB2 & Eurosport, 5pm
