Women's World Cup: England's Phil Neville says team should be 'brave' & accept criticism

Phil Neville has 11 wins and three draws from his 19 games in charge

England should be "brave enough" to accept criticism if they "don't achieve their ambitions" during their Women's World Cup campaign in France, says manager Phil Neville.

The Lionesses are preparing for their World Cup opener against Scotland in Nice on Sunday (17:00 BST on BBC One).

"In my first press conference I said I wanted to win the World Cup," he said.

"One of the journalists said 'don't you think that's brave and bolshy?' I said no because that's where we want to be."

Hope Solo, the former USA goalkeeper, praised Neville for being 'tough in her BBC Sport column.

Meanwhile, England midfielder Toni Duggan said they want to be held to the same standards as the men's team.

And Neville responded by saying: "There's always been this real 'nicey nicey' approach to the women's game and I'm of the opinion that if you win get praise but if you do a bad pass then you are going to get criticised."

He continued: "The first thing the team said to me when I met them was 'if we do good, praise us, if we do bad, tell us and be brutally honest'.

"The girls are ready for it, we have prepared for it and we've worked hard and been harsh in terms of the standards we expect from them on and off the pitch and they are hard on themselves."

Neville goes into his first major tournament as a manager with England ranked third in the world and among the favourites for the trophy.

He received criticism when he replaced Mark Sampson as full-time boss in 2018 over his lack of experience in the women's game.

But he has 11 wins and three draws from his 19 games in charge, and the team lifted the SheBelieves Cup in the USA earlier this year.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself," admits the former Everton and Manchester United defender.

"People don't give the credit to Mark Sampson and the team getting to the 2015 semi-finals and getting the bronze medal. That was an unbelievable achievement.

"I want the spirit of 2015 again because that was team that was willing to go beyond super-human efforts. We can do it and we are capable of doing something super-human now."

After the opening Group D game against Scotland, England will face Argentina in Le Havre on Friday, 14 June before playing Japan back in Nice the following Wednesday.

The top two from each group will qualify for the knockout stages, along with the four best third-place sides.