Mark Sampson suffered his first defeat as England Women’s Head Coach on Wednesday, when his side lost against France in the Cyprus Cup final.
Two early goals put the French in control of the game in Nicosia and that ultimately proved enough for them to complete victory and take the Cyprus Cup title from England.
But Sampson was pleased with his team’s overall display in the game and their attitude in what was effectively a warm-up tournament ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifier with Montenegro.
Highlights of the Cyprus Cup final from Wednesday
"I think if we look at the game overall, we'll look at spells where we've played very well," Sampson told TheFA.com.
"For a good hour of the game, we've controlled it in terms of possession and in terms of territory.
"But we lacked a little bit in the final third to pick the right pass or get a shot off at the right time."
The Lionesses played in four games in the Cyprus Cup, collecting victories in three of them against Italy, Finland and Canada before Wednesday’s defeat.
And with the players still working on their match fitness ahead of the new WSL season, Sampson knows there will be more to come from his charges.
"That's the stage of the season that the players are at, they're just lacking a bit of sharpness at the moment because they're not in their season, unlike the French players," added the former Bristol Academy boss.
"But we've got to be positive because for large parts of the game we played some good football and did the things we wanted the players to do and showed great intent to keep on doing it."
Watch the full interview with Sampson in the media player above.
