Casey Stoney predicts tough Euro 2017 opener against Scotland

25 May 2017 01:55

Casey Stoney has added spice to England's Euro 2017 clash with Scotland by insisting it will be a grudge battle in Utrecht.

The former England skipper also described her experience of leading the Lionesses at Euro 2013 as "the worst two weeks of my career" and promised the team will be better prepared for a trophy push this summer.

England and Scotland will go head to head on July 19 in their tournament opener.

And while some in England's camp are attempting to treat it like any other fixture, veteran defender Stoney has particular relish for the showdown.

"Let's be honest, Scotland don't like us and they always want to beat us and it adds an extra edge to the game," Stoney told Press Association Sport.

"It's important that we win that game. You always want to start well and if we can win the group it just makes the tournament a little bit easier in terms of the draw and moving forward."

After finishing third at the 2015 World Cup in Canada, England believe they can triumph in Holland this summer.

Manager Mark Sampson will bring his squad together on June 5 for a pre-tournament training camp, promising the players their physical exertions during that stage will be greater than anything they can expect to encounter in a match.

Sampson succeeded Hope Powell, who the Football Association dismissed after England's group-stage limp exit at Euro 2013 in Sweden.

Four years on, the memories remain painful for Stoney.

She took a deep breath and said: "It was awful, probably the worst two weeks of my career if I'm honest.

"We went over there with high expectations and we failed miserably. And I take responsibility for that.

"I was captain and I'm not going to shirk responsibility. I reflected heavily after that. There wasn't one thing that went wrong, there were numerous things, and obviously unfortunately the buck stops with the manager when things like that happen and Hope Powell got the sack off the back of it."

Stoney lost the captaincy to Steph Houghton but has fought for her place in the squad and, at 35, remains an influential figure in Sampson's set-up.

England also play Spain and Portugal in Group D, and the matches cannot come soon enough for Stoney.

"Do you know what? I genuinely can't wait to get going now," she said. "We've got a very long prep camp and we know it's going to be a lot of hard work, but if you put the hard yards in, the prep and the discipline, hopefully come July it'll pay off and we can win games of football.

"We've got a real belief within our camp that we can go there and do very well. We won a bronze in the World Cup and we want to go better than that: we want to win this tournament."

Stoney, speaking as she launched a McDonald's campaign to find mascots for England and Scotland, added: "Every tournament we see as an opportunity to inspire people, to change perceptions and to keep changing the game we love."

:: Casey Stoney was speaking at the launch of The McDonald's Player Escort Programme. McDonald's is giving you the chance to register a child for the opportunity to be a Player Escort at the UEFA Women's EURO 2017 match between England and Scotland. To find out more please visit www.mcdonalds.co.uk/chancestowin

Source: PA