Jodie Taylor is happy with how England are developing under Mark Sampson after their performance in the narrow defeat by USA at MK Dons.
Alex Morgan’s first-half header was the difference on Friday night, but Taylor had a goal wrongly chalked off for offside after the break.
The World Cup starts in June and Taylor, who recently signed for Portland Thorns, believes the Three Lions have improved since their 3-0 loss to Germany in November.
England 0-1 USA
A Women's International
Friday 13 February
stadiummk, MK Dons FC
She said: “I’m happy with how we are developing. [It] was another show that we can hang with the top teams and that will give us confidence moving forward.
“We have faced the best two sides in the game so it doesn’t get much harder than that.
“But hopefully that will help us come the summer. That’s when it matters most.”
Taylor followed up strike partner Fran Kirby’s shot that hit the crossbar and converted the rebound – but her joy was short lived when she saw the assistant referee’s flag was up for an offside.
She added: “At no point did I think I was offside.
“I just followed in as I usually do and luckily it bounced to me. It didn’t even cross my mind that I was offside until the whistle went and the flag was raised. I’ve seen it back and it looks like I was onside.
Mark Sampson and Jodie Taylor assess 1-0 loss to USA
“I thought we battled well. I was happy with how we defended and we were able to create some chances as well.
“Unfortunately we had a goal ruled out, but we proved that we can create chances against one of the best sides in the world.”
England still have five matches to continue their development before they board the plane to Canada for the World Cup.
They will play four matches at the annual Cyprus Cup tournament before one last home match, in April.
The Three Lions get their World Cup campaign under way against France on Tuesday 9 June.
