Katie Chapman says England have nothing to lose in their World Cup quarter final clash against Canada.
Mark Sampson’s squad will take on the host nation at the weekend for a place in the semi-final.
The Lionesses have never been beyond the last eight in their three previous appearances at the tournament, and Chapman wants to harness the euphoria from Monday’s historic win over Norway to help send them into uncharted territory.
England v Canada
FIFA Women's World Cup 2015
Quarter final
12.30am, Sunday 28 June
BC Place Stadium, Vancouver
Live on BBC One
The 33-year-old said: “We are in a good place right now and we are getting better and better with every game. I think that showed with the way we finished the Norway game.
“We’ve got to give it everything and play the way we have been playing. If we do that, go there and perform we can definitely get a result.
“We’ve got nothing to lose.”
Over 50,000 fans are expected to attend the match at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium, the vast majority of which will be cheering on Canada.
But Chapman is relishing facing a partisan home crowd.
She said: “It’s going to be absolutely massive. It’s the quarter final of a World Cup and we’re playing the home nation in front of 50,000 fans.
“The crowd will be very hostile so we’ll have to manage that well. I quite like the crowd being against you though. It drives you on.
“It is going to be a tough game even though Canada will have a lot of pressure on them.
England are aiming to reach a first-ever World Cup semi-final
“They have been struggling to score goals in this tournament so we can try and take advantage of that.”
Chapman has started two games in Canada – the opening-day loss to France and the last-16 victory over Norway.
She watched on from the sidelines as her team-mates recovered from the France defeat to claim wins over Mexico and Colombia.
And she feels England are picking up a head of steam at the right time.
Chapman said: “There’s a lot of excitement around the team. We’ve got a great squad of 23 players and we are building momentum.
“We’ve got so much talent and quality in this squad and I think that’s been showing in the tournament so far.”
She added: “We have overcome the last-16, we are through to the quarters and you have to start thinking that we can do well in this tournament.
“You have got to take each game as it comes, and our focus is totally on the Canada game, but you’ve got to have the belief that you can do well.
“It would be great to get as far as we can – and if that means the final that would be unbelievable.”
