Man City and England forward reveals which quality is ‘pushing team to be better’

In-form Manchester City striker Chloe Kelly said competition for places is pushing European Champions England to be even better ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

The 25-year-old forward replaced City team mate Lauren Hemp in the 63rd minute as two Rachel Daly goals helped the Lionesses beat Italy 2-1 in the Arnold Clark Cup.

Head coach Sarina Wiegman named one of the most experimental line-ups of her reign for the game at the CBS Arena, however, impressive performances from youngsters Katie Robinson and Maya Le Tissier evidenced their strength in depth ahead of this summer’s World Cup and Kelly admits the team are benefitting from the competition for places.

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“Katie was brilliant. She got an assist as well and the strength in depth in our squad is really good - it pushes us to be better” said the Lionesses star.

“I think it is great to have so much depth within our squad and it is amazing to be amongst so many great players. I just come on the pitch and try to do what I can for the team and I think it was a great performance from everyone today and everyone got minutes.”

The win was England’s second on the bounce having defeated South Korea 4-0 in their opening game of the competition at Stadium MK last week and the City hero - who scored the second goal in that game - feels the packed crowds and togetherness of the side is already building excitement ahead of a monumental summer.

“It’s exciting. The fans have really got behind us so far in this tournament (the Arnold Clark Cup) and it brings back so many memories of the summer. It pushes us forward and it gives us momentum.

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“It is brilliant and a very competitive competition. Its great to be in front of our home fans where we can keep pushing and build momentum towards this World Cup.”

The Manchester City forward will be hope to be involved again as the Lionesses look to retain the Arnold Clark trophy by beating Belgium in their final game of the tournament at Bristol City’s Ashton Gate on Wednesday (kick off 7:45pm).

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