Jo Potter says England enjoy keeping opposition guessing

Jo Potter says England’s unpredictability gives them a great chance of success at next summer’s European Championship finals.

Head coach Mark Sampson used a host of different formations during his side’s unbeaten qualifying campaign.

And with Euro 2017 hosts Netherlands providing the opposition for England’s final match of the year, Potter believes the Lionesses’ flexibility will keep Group D opponents – Scotland, Spain and Portugal – guessing.

She explained: “We are so adaptable it’s unbelievable. That is one of our strengths. We’ve got loads of players who can play in many positions.

“It makes us unpredictable. Teams don’t know how we’re going to set-up. It’s not like when you come up against a team that always plays a rigid 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.

“We’ve tried nearly every formation possible in the last year or so – and done it well.”

Sampson’s latest experiment was to use Potter, more often deployed as a midfielder, on the left side of a back three alongside Lucy Bronze and captain Steph Houghton.

And his charges seem to have taken it in their stride, picking up victories over Estonia, Belgium and Spain as well as a hard-fought draw against powerhouses France.

Potter said: “After we tried it against Germany in the World Cup, and did OK, there was no reason why couldn’t we do it against anyone else.

Potter (left) with team-mate Nikita Parris during training

“I think it gives us stability. We all feel comfortable with it and I think that showed against France. They had the ball for large spells but they didn’t really threaten us. And to limit France to just one proper shot on target is good going.

“I feel I’ve got the right attributes to play that position, but if Mark asked me to play on the right wing or in goal I’d go and do it to the best of my ability.”

England could extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches on Tuesday, having last lost to Germany, the European champions, in the SheBelieves Cup in March.

But Potter has refused to take the result for granted, and warned that England’s notable improvement over the last two years, including a third-place finish in last year’s World Cup, makes them a target for every other nation.

The 32-year-old added: “We’ve got to accept the fact that we are a big scalp now. We’re going into this tournament as one of the top seeds.

“We recognise that teams want to make a statement by getting a result off us.

“So we have got to expect a tough test against Holland. They are the tournament hosts so they will no doubt want to put on a show. They will want to prove that they are worthy hosts and we know they have a lot of strengths.”

The match is being staged at Koning Willem II Stadium in Tilburg, the same venue where England will take on Portugal in their final Group D match.

Potter said: “It will be nice to get a feel for the stadium and the pitch.

“It will be massively important to find out about the pitch; how big it is, how it plays; is it slow or fast, does it hold up anywhere?

“It’s all about familiarity so when we come back to it in the Euros it’s nothing new.

“Getting used to that pitch will be a huge thing for us.”