England’s Women are just two wins and a draw away from next year’s World Cup Finals – and Karen Carney wants to lay down a marker in the upcoming qualifying double-header.
Mark Sampson’s side face two away matches, against Belarus on Saturday and Ukraine next Thursday, and six points would leave them on the cusp of reaching Canada 2015.
The Three Lions have won all six qualifiers to date, scoring 33 goals without reply, and Carney wants to keep this flawless record intact.
Belarus v England
FIFA Women's World Cup 2015
Group 6 qualifier
3pm BST, Saturday 14 June
Traktor Stadium, Minsk
The Birmingham City captain said: “We want to win both games regardless of how the group is looking because we want to keep out 100 per cent run going.
“It will be good for our confidence and to send a message out that we are a team to be reckoned with. We can’t think about qualification yet, we just need to try and win both games and see where that puts us.
“But if we can play as we have been and get another couple of wins that will obviously put us in a great position.”
Hat-trick hero Carney was the star of the show as England opened their campaign with a comfortable 6-0 dismissal of Belarus in Bournemouth last September.
However, the 26-year-old, who has returned to the squad after missing the last qualifier, against Ukraine, with a back injury, expects a different game in the Traktor Stadium in Minsk.
Carney added: “The early goal helped us last time but they held their own as much as they could. They have got a couple of good players but I think they will approach this match differently.
“I think they will have learned from the last game and bank up. It could be harder to break them down but we’ll keep plugging away and try and get the result.”
It has not gone unnoticed that Carney and Co. are one of two England teams in World Cup action on Saturday, as Roy Hodgson’s charges begin their Finals campaign against Italy in Manaus.
The time difference means the Women’s team will get to watch their male counterparts in action from their hotel in Belarus, albeit at 1am.
And Carney is looking forward to being in a Club England environment for the beginning of this summer’s showpiece event.
She said: “It would have been nice to have been in the country when the men play but it’s good that all the girls will be together.
“We are all passionate about football, we are one team and we all want the lads to do well. It will be nice to watch the Italy game as a group and enjoy it. We just need to concentrate on our game first.”
