Clinton shows England have generational midfield talent on their hands

It is debatable precisely how much can be gleaned from this workout against a team ranked 50th in the world who lost 5-0 to Denmark on Friday but, if England can take one certainty from this victory, it is this: in Grace Clinton, they have found a generational midfielder who they can build the team around for at least the next four major tournaments.

- Tom Garry

The 21-year-old was earning only her fourth cap last night but the class she embodied virtually every time she touched the ball was the perfect illustration of her talents, and showed precisely why she should be considered as one of the first names on the team sheet. Her arrival onto the international scene in 2024 has come at the perfect time for a team that has needed a fresh injection of youthful ingenuity on the ball and her three goals in four Women's Super League games so far this season were added to with a fine header in Coventry.

Even during the warm-up, there was an air of authority about every pass she sprayed across the pitch, an ease with every first-time ball back flicked out to the full-backs in England's back six's passing drill, and a confidence with every effortless trapping of awkward, bouncing high balls. As so many of the best players can do, she was making all the simple parts of football look irritatingly easy, and it continued once the match itself began.