England women 1-1 Italy women

Jodie Taylor's opener was her seventh goal for England

England were held to a 1-1 draw by Italy at Vale Park in a game marred by a serious injury.

After a goalless first half in which the Lionesses dominated, striker Jodie Taylor's fine first-time lob gave England a deserved lead.

But Italy quickly levelled through Valentina Cernoia's crisp strike.

Striker Toni Duggan could have won it, but drilled wide for the hosts in their first match since Mark Sampson named his squad for Euro 2017.

The result was harsh on England, after one of their best displays in the past 12 months, but visiting keeper Katja Schroffenegger denied Taylor superbly in each half.

Left-back Alex Greenwood also wasted a great chance to win the game in stoppage time when she headed wastefully wide.

For Italy, who are also preparing for this summer's tournament in the Netherlands, the match was soured by a serious injury to playmaker Alice Parisi, who was taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg after an unfortunate collision with England's Millie Bright.

The Azzurri, ranked 19th in the world - 15 places below England - improved going forward in the second half after the introduction of substitute Melania Gabbiadini - sister of Southampton forward Manola - but rarely threatened Siobhan Chamberlain's goal aside from Cernoia's fierce equaliser.

One win in six

The draw left England with just one win from their six games in 2017 so far, although those fixtures have included meetings with the world's top three sides.

Italian number 10 Alice Parisi was carried off with a serious injury in the first half

In front of 7,181 fans, Sampson's side created enough chances to beat Italy by a big margin, but despite having 23 efforts, they were wasteful in front of goal.

The England boss was accused on Monday of "sending out a dangerous message" through not picking players based on form, by out-of-favour Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko.

Aluko - who has 100 England caps - was the top scorer in Women's Super League One in 2016 but was one of a number of forwards who were arguably unfortunate to miss out on Sampson's Euros squad.

England carved out several openings, although Taylor broke the deadlock from one of the most difficult, lobbing the keeper with a first-time effort from 25 yards to net her seventh international goal.

The 30-year-old Arsenal forward would have had a hat-trick but for Schroffenegger's reflexes.

Player of the Match - Jordan Nobbs

Arsenal midfielder Jordan Nobbs was at the heart of almost everything that England did well, putting in a fine display and demonstrating her pace, vision and industrious energy down the hosts' right.

With England's squad for the Euros not including any players under the age of 23, it was one of the younger members - 24-year-old Nobbs - who entertained the home crowd at Vale Park.

Italy took their moment - What they said

England women boss Mark Sampson: "It was a big pitch. It was a good opportunity for us to show our physical fitness tonight. We only made three subs because we wanted to replicate the European Championships.

"We didn't expect so many people - we expected a low crowd - so to see that many people was a huge boost to this group of players."

England captain Steph Houghton: "We did everything but put the ball in the back of the net to get that winning goal.

"But it is about the performance. It is very positive when we are creating those chances. Going to the Euros, potentially teams are going to bank up and not give us much space.

"When we play these sorts of teams, it is important for us to know they are always going to have 'a moment'. Italy took their moment.

"Our quality and our athleticism did shine above Italy as a team."

Up next?

England host Austria at Milton Keynes Dons' Stadium MK on Monday, 10 April, before the WSL 1 Spring Series then takes centre-stage until 3 June.

Sampson's side then face Switzerland in Biel on 10 June, before their opening match of the tournament against Group D opponents Scotland in Utrecht on 19 July.