Phil Neville Insists England 'Heading in Right Direction' Despite Lionesses' Defeat to Canada

England Women's manager Phil Neville has insisted his players are 'heading in the right direction' ahead of this summer's World Cup, despite his side falling to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Canada.

With just three friendlies left before the World Cup in France starts in June, the Lionesses produced a sluggish showing, and after being unable to convert their chances, were made to pay when Christine Sinclair struck a late winner for the visitors.

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Despite seeing his side lose their first game since winning the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year, England boss Neville insisted that that they were making the right progress ahead of the World Cup proper.

He said (as quoted by Sky Sports): "I think we're heading in the right direction. That's the biggest thing at the end.

"They were a little bit excitable in the final third. The team stuck together, they kept going, and as I said, I feel happy here tonight, I feel totally relaxed about the way the game went. I thought it was just the game we planned for.

"I said to the players at the end we shouldn't lose that feel-good factor just because of one defeat."

Friday's result represented England's third defeat in 16 games since Neville took charge in early 2018, with the side's previous loss coming last November against Sweden.

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He added: "Tonight, I didn't think we deserved to lose, first and foremost. And I thought it was a brilliant game in terms of the test we wanted.

"The disappointment is that we have lost and the players are absolutely gutted because they don't like losing.

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"But I was actually really pleased with the game. I said to the players at half-time that it was a top-class game, probably harder than the games we had in the SheBelieves Cup.

"So I can say I'm quite happy - not with the result."